By Matt Pouncy

New hospital wing allowing more patients to get care at home

Jul 25, 2018 | 5:32 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The new Ambulatory Centre hopes to provide better health care for residents living in southeastern Alberta.

An expansion of the hospital added over 23,000 square metres, and 40 new out-patient treatment spaces.

The extra capacity will help address wait times for service and potentially reduce demand for in-patient beds.

Premier Rachel Notley, and several other government officials helped to cut the ribbon at the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.

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Notley says it’s important to have top quality health care spaces in all corners of Alberta.

“We know of course, that we have to continue to invest in important provincial centres of care like for instance, the cancer centre, the Tom Baker Centre in Calgary. Where we finally moved forward on that, but at the same time we don’t do that at the expense of providing the kind of quality care that matters most to people in their daily lives at regional centres,” said Notley.

The Margery E. Yuill Cancer Centre has moved into the new wing, providing expanded care and treatment for cancer patients.

It has already made an impact for Anabell Marroquin, a cancer survivor who spent the last year and a half in treatment.

She was diagnosed with a form of leukemia, and was forced to seek treatment in Calgary.

She says the new centre allowed her to come back home.

“One of the things I wanted to get through was the importance of having a cancer clinic in a rural community,” said Marroquin. “It was difficult for me to leave Medicine Hat. Medicine Hat is very very close to me, it’s home for me.”

Marroquin said connecting with other patients helped her through the experience in Calgary but being able to get treated here at home was what she hoped for.

“Being here, it was a really neat opportunity because it’s a very close knit family for a small centre,” said Marroquin.

The hospital expansion also includes new spaces for neonatal intensive care, day surgery, cardio-respiratory services, and a rooftop heliport.

Health Minister Sarah Hoffman says its always tough when a loved one gets sick but this new centre will help put minds at ease.

“When you’re diagnosed with a condition, you wanna get care as close to home as possible, and you want that to be in a state of the art facility. Fortunately now in Medicine Hat we have both of those options,” said Hoffman.