For Immediate Release August 8, 2011 Major Milestone for Beyond Medicine Campaign New Cardiac Care Centre the cornerstone of provincial support to expand HDGH      (Windsor, ON) – Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital has received government support for a major expansion that will move Windsor-Essex towards 24-7 access to life-saving emergency angioplasty treatments and improved patient access to a host of HDGH services. Once completed, the 75,000-square-foot, three-story expansion will provide much needed space to accommodate expanded cardiac services as well as the majority of the hospital’s existing outpatient and ambulatory clinics, which will in turn allow greater use of the existing site including new, dedicated space for medical students. The cornerstone of the expansion is a 10,445 square-foot Cardiac Care Centre which will allow for round-the-clock angioplasty (PCI) procedures. Currently, HDGH hosts only one angioplasty lab available to patients until early evening, a circumstance which limits HDGH’s ability to treat all of the area’s emergency cardiac cases. With two state-of-the-art angioplasty suites, HDGH will also be in better position to attract additional heart specialists to our community as the hospital moves towards 24-7 cardiac care. The expansion will also allow same-day procedures for patients whose angiograms reveal the need for an angioplasty procedure. Having this access here in Windsor – a major cardiac hotspot in the province - will halt the need to refer these patients out of town for care. The announcement recognizes the hard work of the Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital Foundation staff and its long list of dedicated supporters who have looked forward to this day since the Beyond Medicine campaign first began in June 2007. However, provincial support still requires a community contribution through the Foundation. The campaign goal for the community is $12.5 million; to date, the Foundation has raised some $9.3 million. “Even with today’s announcement, we strongly urge our community to continue to support the HDGH Foundation to help us make this vision a reality,” said Beyond Medicine Campaign Chair Adrian Vido. Better patient access and improved use of existing space The hospital expansion will also accommodate improved patient access to outpatient and ambulatory care services. The bottom two floors of the expansion will host the vast majority of HDGH’s outpatient clinics, which will provide much improved patient access. There will be some 16 rooms for outpatient clinic needs, up from a current 10 rooms. Construction of the original Hotel-Dieu Hospital began in 1888. Over the years, there have been several expansions to the hospital as administrators attempted to accommodate new and additional procedures. However, space remains limited and in some cases key hospital programs, such as the cataract clinic, have been relegated to areas in the basement of the building – where space was available, though not necessarily ideal in terms of patient access and staff workspace. Among the challenges, the current cardiac cath lab was located in the corner of building in 1998, since it was the only area of the hospital with 15-foot space (floor-to-ceiling) to accommodate the required medical equipment. The expansion will allow the cath labs to be situated in a more appropriate setting in terms of space requirements and patient access. Moving the HDGH outpatient clinic (currently adjacent to the emergency department on the Goyeau side) will allow for an expansion of the existing ER, providing more space for staff and better privacy for patients. Also, the current 5th floor of the existing facility will be renovated for medical education, providing medical students with teaching rooms, a computer room, sleeping area, and other requirements for training. Currently, there is no centralized area of the hospital to accommodate medical student needs in one location. All surgical procedures will be consolidated on one floor (second floor of both the existing and new facility). Currently, outpatient day surgery procedures and non-critical recovery rooms are on the 5th floor of the existing facility. -30-   For more information contact Steve Erwin, Director of Communications at 519-973-4433.