Renovations have already begun at St. Mary’s Hospital in the Cote-des-Neiges-NDG borough. The century old hospital is modernizing its emergency room that welcomes 35,000 visitors every year. “We really feel that we’ve hit the limit of what we can, what we can accomplish in the space that we have,” says Dr. Suj Sivaraman, an emergency room physician and St. Mary’s Associate Director of Medical Affairs and Professional Services. Sivaraman has worked here for the past 21 years. He says the aging infrastructure affects the care medical professionals like himself can deliver. “On our ambulatory side, we have a limited number of rooms. and the end result of that is oftentimes we have physicians who want to see patients, but there aren’t enough rooms to see them.” The St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation unveiled renovation plans Wednesday morning. New features include a dedicated walk in area, private exam rooms and a rapid assessment zone. The price tag is $16.3 million, and it’s being paid in full by the Foundation. “The needs, as we know, are becoming more complex. we have an aging population, and our community continues to join us in the endeavor to ensure that we’re ready to meet those needs head on,” said Nadia Wendowsky, St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation President and CEO. It’s not the first time a hospital project is funded entirely by philanthropy. Santé Québec and the foundation went ahead without even making a request for funding from the province. “The simple reality of infrastructure and capital projects in Quebec is there’s too many needs buying, too many different asks. Had I gone through a queue to make substantial requests for support of funding, it could have been several years before a nod would have arrived,” said Dan Gabay, Santé Québec Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal President and CEO. The ER will remain fully functional during construction. Work is expected to be completed in three years.
