Children's Hospital of Saskatchewan
Frequently Asked Questions
I heard that this hospital will have an emergency department for both adults and children. Is this true?
A new emergency department for both adults and children has always been part of the plans for the new maternal and children's hospital. This was identified and approved as as part of the functional program. Costs for the new adult and pediatric emergency department were included within the $200 million in funding provided by the provincial government.
I thought that this was a children's hospital. Why are you moving adults into the new children's emergency department?
Saskatoon Health Region currently operates an emergency department at Royal University Hospital that serves children, teenagers and adults. Pediatric emergency is currently open from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm (midnight) and cares for anyone under the age of 18 years.
The adult and pediatric emergency departments share nurses, doctors and other health care team members such as registration, laboratory and x-ray.
Pediatric and adult emergency also shares trauma specialists. For example, if there is a car accident involving children and adults, both are brought to the department and cared for by our trauma team. Many of our specialists care for both adults and children and it is critical we have access to these specialists in one location to best care for you when you need them.
With the creation of the Children's Hospital of Saskatchewan, we will continue to share these specialty resources such as trauma. What will change is that we will have a larger, greatly improved space to provide the care that is needed with special attention paid to how we clearly separate pediatrics from adults.
We are still working on the basic layout of the new emergency department. We want to ensure we get it right! To help determine this basic layout, we are mapping out how we provide care today in emergency for both pediatrics and adults. Then we are challenging ourselves by asking how can we make this better. We are trying to come up safer, more efficient ways to provide care in the new hospital to make sure we are providing truly patient and family centered.
Why is Saskatoon Health Region planning to build a maternal and children’s hospital? Don’t we already offer these services?
We currently offer services to mothers, pregnant women, teenagers and children. The building of a maternal and children’s hospital will allow us to consolidate our services and create space to meet the unique needs of mothers, newborns, children and families. The space will allow us to provide an improved way of delivering care.
I thought it was going to be just a children’s hospital – why are we adding maternal?
We are planning a maternal and children’s hospital because the co-location of maternal services with children’s services is essential. It allows a mother and her baby to be cared for in one location. This care can involve different health care providers during pregnancy, before and during delivery, and afterwards depending on the circumstances. By existing together, we are ensuring both a mother and her newborn baby have access to the care they need when they need it.
Will children have to travel out-of-province once the hospital opens?
Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan will not eliminate out-of-province travel for children with rare conditions or requiring highly specialized care.
In order to provide the best care possible, the entire health care team needs to see a large number of patients each year to achieve and maintain specialized skills and expertise. In some instances, Saskatchewan does not have the population to allow for that to happen. Some children will continue to be best served in larger centres.
For example, Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton will continue to be Western Canada's referral centre for pediatric cardiac surgery.
What Children's Hospital of Saskatchewan will do is make our current services and programs stronger through modern, purpose built space and will create the best experience for the entire family.
Given this hospital is in Saskatoon and owned by Saskatoon Health Region, what makes it a provincial maternal and children’s hospital?
Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan will be a provincial hospital as are Saskatoon Health Region’s three other hospitals in Saskatoon. As determined by the provincial government, Saskatoon Health Region will be the owner and operator of Children's Hospital of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon Health Region has also been asked to lead planning, designing and building of this hospital.
The hospital itself will be a tertiary care centre similar to Royal University Hospital today. This means patients come to RUH for specialized consultative care from across the province, usually on referral from physicians.
Based on Saskatoon Health Region's existing pediatric and maternal services and the tertiary care provided today, here are some statistics on the provincial nature of these services. These show how many patients who live outside of Saskatoon Health Region access a service that will eventually be located in the new Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan.
In addition, some of the provincial programs that will continue to exist within the new maternal and children’s hospital include the provincial referral centre for advanced fetal diagnosis and intervention, pediatric cardiology, pediatric rheumatology, and pediatric audiology.
However, this all being said, current pediatric and maternal services in other health regions will continue to be offered by those regions and Saskatoon Health Region will continue to work collaboratively with those regions to provide exceptional patient and family care for our entire province.
Have you been getting input from patients and families before now?
We have an active Patient and Family Advisory Council in Maternal and Children’s Health Services. This council has proven to be extremely valuable and highly involved in many operational decisions and will play a key role in designing the new hospital.
In addition, we have established a Patient and Family Working Group to further involve patients and families in the planning of the CHS. Input from our children will also be instrumental in the project’s development.
Will staff and physicians have the opportunity to provide input?
Staff and physician input into the development of the maternal and children’s hospital will be critical to the success of our project. Staff and physicians have been involved in the early design sessions. Participants were chosen or assigned by the various departments, and in some cases, an invitation was extended to an entire area for participation.
They, along with more individuals, will continue to be involved as design progresses. These groups are also represented on the project steering committee.
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