Construction has begun on a new emergency department at Eagle Ridge Hospital in Port Moody, B.C.

The provincial government is investing $22.6 million through the regional health authority in the emergency department expansion. The Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation is providing an additional $5 million.

“Our government is making the investment for an expanded emergency department at Eagle Ridge Hospital that will meet the needs of the growing Tri-Cities population,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “We are treating emergency care in this region as a priority, so people will be able to receive health-care services in a state-of-the-art facility, and health-care workers will have the room they need to help patients get better, quicker.”

The expansion will more than double the number of patient treatment spaces in the emergency department from 19 to 39. Construction is expected to be complete in late 2020.

In order to expand the emergency department, health records will move to the basement of the hospital, diagnostic cardiology will expand its functional space by moving to the existing health records area, and rehabilitation services will also relocate to a partially vacant part of the hospital.

The work will include four new isolation rooms to support improved infection-control measures as well as two new trauma resuscitation bays. Walk-in patients and ambulances will have separate entrances. An area will be designated for chemical decontamination.

When Eagle Ridge Hospital opened almost 35 years ago, the hospital’s emergency department had about 20,000 patient visits per year. Since then, visits have increased to more than 50,000 per year. By 2030, demand is projected to increase to 68,000 per year.