St. Joseph’s Hospital and its foundation have unveilled their plans to relocate and expand the hospital’s chemotherapy unit.
The announcement was made on Wednesday morning, during the annual Radiothon for Life at the hospital. The expansion will move the chemotherapy department closer to the main entrance, increase floor space and provide additional comforts for patients. The project will be funded entirely by the foundation.
“We’ve done consultation with our staff … and we’ve done consultation with patients to get us to the point where we’re ready to unveil the plans to introduce this unit to the community, and thanks to the generosity of the hospital foundation, we’ll be able to start that project within the next couple of weeks,” said St. Joseph’s Hospital CEO Greg Hoffort.
He hopes the renovation could be finished within a month.
Hoffort said the hospital’s staff members have been looking for ways to improve the space for the chemotherapy unit.
“The patients here get exceptional care, and they’re happy to talk about that repeatedly, but the space was just a little less than desirable,” said Hoffort.
“At a strategic planning meeting of our management team in the past few weeks, we came up with a way to reorganize our emergency department where chemotherapy has been previously located, and to reallocate some space to make alternate space available, to the point where we’re able to expand our chemotherapy unit, relocate it to a more convenient location and make these improvements.”
The chemotherapy department is currently in the centre of the emergency department. It’s one of several private rooms in emergency for private treatments. Hoffort said it measures about 100 square feet.
The new location will be down the hall, and adjacent to registration. The rooms that will be used are a part of three different adjoining departments. Renovations will be needed with partition walls to be constructed and equipment to be purchased to transform those rooms into a chemotherapy area.
“At this point, a chemotherapy patient can now come in, register, go around the corner and they’re where they need to be,” said Hoffort.
The hospital can currently accommodate up to three patients at a time in the chemotherapy unit. That number will remain the same, but the expansion will allow the hospital to provide greater comfort to patients.
Approximately 450 individuals receive care at the hospital’s chemotherapy unit each year. Many of them will receive treatment on numerous occasions.
“This isn’t about increasing capacity,” said Hoffort. “It’s about increasing the level of care, the quality of care and the environment where our patients can receive chemotherapy.”
In addition to the extra space, comforts such as individual TVs, blanket warmers, ice machines, water machines, private washrooms within the unit, and seating for family are planned for the new chemotherapy area.
“These folks are going through some really challenging times,” said Hoffort. “They’re some of the vulnerable people in our community. Our mission is to serve all of our patients, especially those most vulnerable. You want to do it in a way that is conducive to making their challenging times as comfortable as possible.”
The naming rights for the new chemotherapy area have been sold as part of the hospital foundation’s revitalization campaign. The foundation said on Wednesday morning that it was looking for someone to pay $50,000 over 10 years for the naming rights.
Later in the day, hospital foundation executive director Travis Frank announced that an anonymous donor had paid the $50,000 for the naming rights. The donor will be revealed at a later date.
“This name will be prominently displayed above the entrance to the unit in the emergency waiting room for a period of 10 years,” said Frank.
The naming rights to some other parts of the hospital have been sold already as part of the revitalization campaign.
Hoffort is confident that the $50,000 generated by the naming rights sale will be enough to cover the cost of the project.
