GUELPH – Guelph General Hospital is expanding its emergency department and the foundation is looking to the community to help fund numerous pieces of equipment for the expanded space.
A temporary building has arrived and is currently being set up for triage, registration and patient waiting. This will free up more space to care for patients in the hospital’s existing ED space, including a bigger and better trauma room to provide better care for critically ill patients.
More space is only half the answer though. Community support is necessary because every piece of equipment used to care for patients at the hospital is funded through donations.
Dr. Alex Ferguson, chief of emergency medicine, says “Right now, we need a new ECG machine to detect heart conditions and two new diagnostic imaging systems to display X-rays and CT scans, allowing us to compare past images with current images to provide the highest quality assessment. We also need more trauma carts, ensuring our team has crucial equipment and supplies at their fingertips when a critically ill patient arrives. And those are just a few of the items on our list.”
The temporary building will help the hospital provide more prompt and safer emergency care throughout the cold and flu season and as part of their COVID-19 response plan.
The current emergency department space was designed to handle 45,000 patients a year. Now, it sees nearly 65,000 patients each year, even before COVID-19, so a longer-term solution is also necessary.
Through the $34-million Together, We Care capital fundraising campaign announced last month, there is a plan for a permanent expansion of the hospital’s emergency department, including the creation of new space to support better mental health and addictions care.
The seasonal campaign includes a series of letters to previous donors asking them to consider making another donation this holiday season.
Those who have not made a donation in the past can donate online at www.gghfoundation.ca; by phone to 519-837-6422; or by cheque payable to The Foundation of GGH mailed to 115 Delhi Street, Guelph, ON N1E 4J4.
