After years of planning, the move date is almost here for the Kingston General Hospital ambulatory patient care clinics. Starting on the week of January 12, 2013, almost all of the clinics at KGH will begin transferring to their new permanent home at Hotel Dieu Hospital (HDH).
"Staff and patients will have a lot to look forward to in the new clinic spaces," says Tom Hart, Program Manager Ambulatory Care and Co-chair of the Transfer Steering Committee. "They are being completely redeveloped and will be big and bright with more teaching space and conference rooms." All in all, about 70 clinics that generate some 45,000 patient visits each year will be moving on over to HDH. Once all the dust has settled, KGH will be focused almost entirely on providing acute and complex care while HDH will be a one-stop-shop for patients across the region who need specialized ambulatory care. "This will benefit our patients and our staff as it will allow both hospitals to really clarify their roles and focus more on the core services they are providing," says Hart. Meanwhile over at HDH, construction is well underway in some areas and already finished in others. Highlights of the new clinic spaces include:
- Specialized clinic suites on Jeanne Mance 4 and 5 with new reception and waiting areas, examination and consultation rooms, procedure and assessment rooms, conference rooms and multi-disciplinary teaching areas
- Cystoscopy Procedure Suite on Johnson 4 that will consolidate urological testing and treatments, including diagnostic cystoscopy, urodynamics and biofeedback testing
- Pulmonary Function Testing Lab on Brock 4 that will house services for treating respiratory conditions, such as asthma, pulmonary and cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
"I think our patients will enjoy being in these fresh new surroundings," says KGH Ambulatory Charge Nurse Elizabeth Adam who is moving over to HDH. "The exam rooms will have lots of space which is nice for patients, as they usually bring along family members to their appointments. The new location will also be handy for those who travel by bus, as there are multiple bus stops right on Brock Street." The redeveloped clinic rooms will also be entirely wheelchair accessible with plenty of accessible washrooms. Adams says the 20 or so KGH staff who are transferring over to HDH are starting to get excited about the new space. "I think this move is going to be great for staff. There will be plenty of conference rooms, exam rooms, team rooms and procedure rooms which will make it easier for us to do our jobs," she says. Adams says having dedicated staff bathrooms and locker rooms will also be a bonus, as will being located right downtown. "We will be able to walk to the market, to Confederation Park or go shopping," she says. Not all of KGH's ambulatory clinics will be making the move over to HDH at this time though. Some of our cardiac and vascular activity , women's and children program and our vasectomy clinic are staying at KGH, due to a limited number of practitioners or an ethical consideration. The renal clinic is also staying at KGH for now. The decision to move it over to HDH is now under review by the South East LHIN and a decision is expected shortly on the matter. Once the big move begins in January, it will happen in phases and it's expected to take about five weeks in total. When it's done, the remaining ambulatory clinics at KGH will be consolidated in FAPC 1. The Joint Planning Office is now studying options for the soon to be vacated space on FAPC 4.
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