Emergency Room Renovation

St. Mary's Hospital, Camrose Foundation

is proud to announce the successful completion of the Emergency Department renovation project.

Why was this renovation necessary?

The design of the Emergency Department was not meeting the collective needs of physicians, staff and patients. Numerous studies over many years have identified serious shortcomings of the E.R. at St. Mary’s Hospital.

What is the renovated Emergency Department achieving?

Improved safety and security for staff and patients including increased visual sight lines of the waiting area as well as all treatment and trauma rooms.
An efficient pathway for staff and patient access to our hospital’s cast room, ear, nose and throat treatment area, as well as our observation and trauma rooms.
Better environment for the patients, staff and physicians.
Better care for patients as the general population of Camrose changes. In 2015-2016, 60% of all emergency visits were adults 17-64 years of age. We recognize that going forward in view of natural aging, patients will require increased times for diagnosis and treatment; in addition, we must accommodate the increasing complexity of health care issues.

These photos show the updated waiting room and entrance of St. Mary's Emergency Department.

Where did the funding come from for this renovation?

At the September 2015 Board meeting, Foundation members passed a motion for this renovation in the interests of better health care and to use funds generated from investments and from generous donations made to the Foundation since it’s inception in 2002. After further study, internal and external analysis and extensive dialogue with all stakeholders, a subsequent motion was passed in June, 2016 to allocate a maximum of $1 million to the project. We instructed the design team to create plans for a rebuild within this firm budget figure.

How did this project fit within the Foundation’s mandate?

We continue to remain true to the mandate of our Foundation and the regulations set out by the Canada Revenue Agency. We support the hospital as needed whether it be for equipment, chapel, CT, scholarships or renovations to the Emergency Department.

Necessary improvements at our busy hospital have been studied and requested for more than ten years. While, we have toured and had positive dialogue with two previous health ministers, the present Minister of Health, the previous CEO of Alberta Health Services and past and present MLA’s, we have yet to achieve the renovations we dearly require to continue to excel in meeting the standards of treatment in the Emergency Department. While we would have greatly preferred that some of the funding for these improvements would have come from AHS or government, we also recognize that for patient and staff safety, optimum patient care and to maximize efficiency with limited resources, the time has come to make these renovations the top priority for the money with which we have been entrusted.