Old Corner Brook hospital gets new lease on life as a health centre, transitional care unit

A former hospital on Newfoundland's west coast is being repurposed to help ease the burden on the province's health-care system, says the health minister.

The province recently announced the former Western Memorial Regional Hospital is being turned into the Corner Brook Community Health Centre, and will house a new family care team, a transitional care unit and long-term care beds.

"We're working towards re-utilizing that space to its maximum potential," Health Minister Krista Lynn Howell told CBC.

She said extensive work has been done to the old hospital to get it ready for its new role, including electrical upgrades and space configuration, like creation of private rooms, a lounge area and a dining area to serve patients.

"It's been given a new life."

It comes months after the new Corner Brook hospital opened but an overflow of patients, some who no longer required urgent medical care or were waiting to get into longer-term care, had to be housed in the former hospital.

Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services had already announced plans to renovate two floors of what's now known as the Corner Brook Community Health Care Centre.

Howell said family care teams include physicians, nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists.

"We're certainly excited to see that ready to roll in Corner Brook. And we know that this provides access to individuals who might not otherwise have had a primary care provider."

She also urged people to register with Patient Connect N.L. if they don't have a primary care provider.

"Then we can have a better picture of the folks in the province who are still waiting to be assigned to a family care team or a provider," Howell said, adding it will also give them access to virtual care.

Transitional care unit

The news comes after CBC reported in May on a jump in people waiting for alternate care beds.

Howell said the province is aware there are people in hospital beds who are waiting to get into long-term care or waiting for rehabilitation services and are waiting in acute care.

"We're endeavouring now to build a hub in Corner Brook of 30 long-term care beds and 15 transitional care beds, where individuals who would have normally been in a hospital will now be able to go into this space and receive the type of care that's most specific to them," she said.

The new space will also free up needed acute care beds in hospitals, she added, further helping the province tackle the problem around available space and waitlists.

Howell said she'd have to wait until the upgrades to the old hospital are completed to know the total cost.

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