Hospital upgrades will help keep patients safe: Southlake

September 25, 2020 · 0 Comments

A new Provincial announcement of $1.8 million through 2021 will allow for critical behind-the-scenes improvements at Southlake Regional Health Centre designed to keep patients safe, according to Arden Krystal, President & CEO of the hospital.

The latest investment, part of an overall investment of $175 million Ontario-wide for critical upgrades and repairs in 129 hospitals, was announced Friday by Newmarket-Aurora MPP – and Health Minister – Christine Elliott, accompanied by Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MPP Michael Parsa and King-Vaughan MPP Stephen Lecce.

The funding will go to towards upgrading the hospital’s electrical system – an area of improvement that might be considered less “sexy”, according to Ms. Krystal, but is nonetheless essential in providing quality healthcare to the community.

“This hospital runs 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and whenever you walk the halls you will hear a hum and there is always a light on somewhere,” said Ms. Krystal. “Every day our facility operations team works to keep this hospital running so our clinical care team can care for this community and I can tell you that from personal experience that this was really, really important during COVID where we had a small flood in our pharmacy and where we had a small electrical fire. Without those folks and without the right systems, a lot can happen.

“This funding will support upgrades to our hospital’s electrical system, ensuring a reliable power supply throughout the campus now and into the future. Specifically, the hospital will replace the main electrical switchboard in the power plant. Funding like this helps us continue investing in our facility to create a safe and comfortable environment for patients and their families, as well as our staff.”

While Ms. Krystal said it is the staff and physicians who care for patients that have the greatest impact on their experience while in hospital, technology undoubtedly helps improve the care provided, and allows frontline workers to spend more time with patients.

“As healthcare innovation is increasingly driven by technology, we need to improve the electrical foundation to position the team for success and continue to make patients’ lives easier,” she continued. “While a new electrical switchboard in our power plant is not that sexy, the reliable power it can provide now, and in the future, will enable Southlake to accommodate new equipment and adopt the latest technology and continue delivering leading-edge care that improves patient outcomes in clinical experiences.”

This was a message shared by MPP Elliott as she outlined the government’s program.

“These are unprecedented times for us all, but when this virus swept across the world our doctors, nurses, personal support workers and other frontline healthcare staff really showed us the depth of their compassion and their commitment to keep all of us healthy and safe,” she said. “As we continue this fight against COVID-19, it has never been more important that our healthcare providers and frontline workers have the facilities they need to continue providing excellent, quality, patient-centred care. Investments in infrastructure projects help hospitals make the necessary upgrades, repairs and improvements to ensure they can continue to deliver accessible and high-quality care for patients and families.

“The health and wellbeing of Ontarians will always continue to be our top priority, especially as we continue to battle COVID-19. We will continue to invest in patients, hospitals and our frontline healthcare workers to ensure Ontarians continue to receive the healthcare they expect and deserve.”

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter