MIndemoya Hospital reopens; health official says more work to be done

Patients at the Manitoulin Health Centre have a new emergency room at their fingertips, thanks to work that was done at the MIndemoya Hospital but one health official says their work is far from over.

The ribbon has officially been cut – patients at Manitoulin Health Centre have a new emergency room to use at the Mindemoya Hospital – but one health official says the work is far from over.

The comments were made recently at the grand re-opening of the department outside the facility on Manitoulin Island.

"Our clinicians now get to work in a state-of-the-art facility with improvements in infection control to protect them, protect patients, a new mental health and addictions area, a family room," said CEO Paula Fields.

"Really we needed to grow because our volumes have increased over the last few years and we needed the space to accommodate all of the patients that come to see us."

According to health officials, they are roughly sitting at over 10,000 visits to the emergency department a year.

"People are going to notice that there are increased clinical spaces,” said Fields.

“We've increased clinical spaces to deal with the patient flows and the increase."