**FREDERICTON** — A 13-bed medical transition unit previously housed in a converted ambulance bay at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital has reopened on an upper floor of the facility.
Margaret Melanson, president and CEO of Horizon Health Network, announced the reopening during the regional health authority’s board meeting in Saint John.
The unit was temporarily closed in early April, and remaining patients were discharged or relocated while work proceeded on a new permanent space within the hospital. The relocation plans were initially disclosed in January following public criticism regarding conditions in the ambulance bay, where patients waiting for inpatient beds lacked access to in-room washrooms and running water.
Melanson stated previously that plans to close and relocate the unit were underway before a nurse publicly raised concerns about her grandmother’s experience as a patient in the space.
To create space for the 13 acute care beds on the hospital’s 4 West inpatient unit, Horizon relocated outpatient ambulatory care clinics and moved several outpatient services into the community in late April.
As part of these changes, a new blood and specimen collection clinic opened at the Brookside Mall, alongside the relocation of outpatient electrodiagnostic and respiratory therapy services.
“Outpatient services have been moved into the community, improving access and convenience for patients,” Melanson said at the June board meeting. “The new specimen collection clinic at Brookside Mall has reduced wait times for blood and specimen collection from 46 days to 16 days.”
Horizon reported a 34 per cent reduction in patient volume at the hospital as more individuals utilize the Brookside location. Melanson noted that the relocation of ambulatory clinics has successfully added 13 acute care beds to support patients admitted through the emergency department.
“One of our key objectives is to review which services can be safely delivered outside of acute hospital settings and closer to home in the community,” Melanson said. “This approach improves the patient experience by bringing care closer to home, while also helping to ease pressure on our hospitals, which continue to operate above capacity.”
According to a Horizon official, the relocated unit was activated in late May.
Article and image source: tj.news
