REGINA – About 20 patients have been moved from their wards at the Pasqua Hospital. They have been moved to different units in anticipation of work which needs to be done in order to replace aging pipes. Five patients have also been relocated to rural facilities.
Unexpected water and sewage leaks in December 2012 and March and June of this year were the catalyst for the construction. Operating rooms will be closed from 6 a.m. on Saturday, July 20 to 4 p.m. Thursday, July 25. The health region said this is the slowest time to do those repairs, but they will still impact 80 surgeries. They plan to do more surgeries in September to compensate.
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“Right now we have eight operating rooms here at the Pasqua and they haven’t been fully running for some time because of our nursing shortage,” said Sandy Euteneier, Surgical Care Services Executive Director at the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region. “Come September, they will be fully open, so with the additional rooms and the thought of maybe running some evening and weekend work, we thought that we could make up those 80 surgeries fairly quickly.”
Emergency services will not be affected during that time.
The RQHR warned repairs could take place on a more regular basis as the building ages, with parts of it over 30 years old.
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