Dauphin hospital restores key services after summer flood

Diagnostic tests including electrocardiograms and ultrasound are back in their usual spaces at the Dauphin Regional Health Centre, the Manitoba government said Tuesday, as repairs continue on a hospital damaged by flooding this summer.

Premier Wab Kinew and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara outlined the progress in Dauphin. More diagnostic imaging and cardiac stress testing are now available, and accessible washrooms serving the emergency department are expected to open in the coming weeks, the province said in a news release.

The emergency department has been running from a temporary location inside the building since Labour Day, according to the province. Remediation of the flood-damaged ground floor is still under way so rebuilding can move ahead.

Some services have been moved out of the hospital in the meantime. A temporary renal dialysis unit is now operating at the Dauphin Community Health Services building, and a temporary chemotherapy treatment area at Grandview Health Centre began treating patients this fall, the province said.

Work is also under way on a pilot that would bring virtual physician care to the emergency department in Ste. Rose, aimed at keeping emergency services available there, Asagwara said.

“Restoring health services in Dauphin remains a top priority for our government,” Kinew said.

Treena Slate, chief executive of Prairie Mountain Health, described the Dauphin centre as the health region’s second-largest acute care hospital and said clinical and operational teams are already assessing which restoration phases can roll out next.

The hospital serves Dauphin and the surrounding Parkland region of western Manitoba, and several of its services have operated from temporary locations since the flood.

Tuesday’s release did not give a date for the emergency department’s return to its permanent space or for the hospital’s full recovery. It also did not say what the repairs will cost, what caused the flooding, or how many patients have had to travel to other communities for care while services were relocated. The province said further updates will follow as the work progresses.

During the same visit, Kinew and Justice Minister Matt Wiebe broke ground on the Dauphin Centre for Justice, a 100-bed correctional facility the province says will bring about 80 jobs back to the community.

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Photo: City Hall in downtown Dauphin, Man. File photo by Krazytea via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.