September 29, 2019

Successful first patient day at Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital

This morning, as the first pediatric surgery and outpatient clinics opened, Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) began its first full day of operations in the province’s new children’s and maternal hospital. After years of design, building, planning and preparation, patients are now settled in and the new Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital is officially open in Saskatoon.

“Our dedicated staff, nurses and physicians all worked together to ensure the big move to our beautiful new hospital yesterday was a success,” said Carrie Dornstauder, Executive Director of Maternal and Children’s Programs for Saskatchewan Health Authority. “It’s that staff collaboration, along with the assistance of our moving company, Health Care Relocations (HCR), and the cooperation of our patients and families throughout the day that meant we could make this move a positive experience for our patients and their families.”

JPCH children’s emergency, pediatric and maternal services opened in the new hospital at 6 a.m. yesterday. The first patient – a child needing emergency care – entered the hospital at 6:10 a.m. The first new patient was admitted to JPCH at 7 a.m. that morning. The first new maternal patient arrived at JPCH at 8:45 a.m. September 29.

The big patient move for Pediatric and Maternal services began at about 7:17 a.m. on September 29 and was completed at 11:31 a.m. – three minutes ahead of schedule, despite additional patients being added along the way. All patients moved without incident. In total, 112 maternal and child patients were moved to their new patient rooms inside JPCH.

“The opening of Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital marks a dream more than two decades in the making finally coming true,” said Brynn Boback-Lane, President and CEO of Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation. “This historic milestone means the start of a new era of care for Saskatchewan families. Words cannot adequately express our heartfelt appreciation for the time and funds that made this possible; this project truly represents how Saskatchewan people come together. A new and exciting chapter has begun.”

Once the doors to the new children’s and maternal hospital opened, it didn’t take long for babies to begin arriving. The first baby born at JPCH was delivered at 2:32 p.m. As of this 11 a.m. today, six babies have been born at JPCH.

The last baby born at Royal University Hospital arrived at 9:13 a.m. on Sunday.

“It’s exciting, to be moving into the new hospital and delivering care under our new model, which provides mothers and their newborns with a single room and a private space that can accommodate their specific care needs.  With that said, we are saying goodbye to more than 64 years of special care and special memories at RUH, which has served Saskatchewan moms and babies very well throughout that time,” says obstetrician Dr. Jocelyne Martel.

“We had a busy day, but everything went extremely well in terms of transitioning from the former space to the new,” said Dr. Ron Siemens, interim provincial head of pediatrics, and a pediatric emergency physician. “I really feel the design, space and technology will benefit everyone in the city and in the province who need care now and in the years to come.”

While all inpatient services are available at JPCH now, pediatric outpatient services will continue to ramp up over the course of the next few weeks and months in the new facility.  Patients and families are advised to pay close attention to information provided in their appointment letters so they will know where they need to go for their outpatient appointments in upcoming months.