Calgary’s busiest emergency department has a new look. Phase two of the emergency department expansion at the Peter Lougheed Centre officially opened Tuesday, marking the completion of a six-year, $151-million redevelopment project. The hospital was originally built to handle roughly 40,000 emergency visits per year. Last year, it saw more than 80,000, putting sustained pressure on staff and space. The final phase of the project brings 97 new patient beds across the site, including 28 dedicated emergency department beds. “It takes an extensive amount of work and a lot of different people to get to this place, where we are today, where we’re ready to open,” said Maria Vera, patient care manager at the Peter Lougheed Centre. Phase one of the project opened in 2023. In the interim, while phase 2 was being built, the hospital has been relying on a temporary tent-style structure to manage overflow. “When we’re able to provide care, emergency care in the right type of space, it allows us to create and generate that much more flow,” Vera said. “And so, when we have the technology and the space available to us, it allows us to be that much more efficient and offer care to our patients in a way that we are proud of.” The new ER space is divided into four colour-coded zones and includes additional sub-waiting areas for better triage, two isolation rooms for potentially contagious patients and updated medical equipment. Hospital leaders say that while the expansion doesn’t represent a dramatic increase in capacity on paper, the redesigned layout will allow people to get through the system more efficiently and safely. “Whether that’s moving stretchers, whether that’s moving staff, whether that’s moving equipment, that’s the way that this is designed, wide hallways, big open spaces so that people can move effectively in efficiency to be able to provide care,” said Nicholas Thain, senior operating officer at the Peter Lougheed Centre. “It means a better care space for patients. It means a better care space for the practitioners, the health-care workers that are going to be in here and then ultimately for the community, allows us to be more effective and efficient in serving those patients that require the care that we provide on a daily basis.” The ER opening comes amid criticism of wait times. Whether the improved flow translates into shorter wait times will be closely watched in the weeks and months ahead.
