You might want to head to a walk-in clinic rather than Royal Jubilee Hospital’s emergency department if you’re feeling ill this weekend. And if you want to visit a patient, please wait until after 6 p.m.
That’s the advice of the Vancouver Island Health Authority, which this Sunday (March 13) is moving 260 patients from wards, with the exception of patients from the cardiac, intensive care and mental health units at Royal Jubilee Hospital to the new patient care centre. Patients from mental health will move April 9; the others will remain in the old building.
About 150 staff members are involved in the move, which will take place between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.
“Fewer people in the ER will allow staff to focus on making the move safe and patient-focused,” VIHA spokesperson Shannon Marshall said.
Staff has been practising for months to move patients from old wards to new ones within three minutes, she added.
“Everything is planned right down to the second.”
Patients should all be moved by 6 p.m. and will be served dinner in the new centre that evening.
vmoreau@oakbaynews.com
