SASKATOON – The ribbon has been cut to officially open the new and reconstructed main entrance to St. Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon.
Members of the government of Saskatchewan, along with St. Paul’s Hospital, the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation and other dignataries were on hand to mark the completion of the front entrance as well as of the Kikâwînaw wîki Healing Centre.
The new entrance will open to the public Jan. 29. Among the features touted by the province include a fully accessible entrance with a covered drive and drop-off area for patients, and also enhanced lighting.
Those involved with the hospital said they wanted to enhance the welcoming feel of the entranceway to all of those coming through its doors.
“Well, if you've been to St. Paul's prior to this facility, it was a hospital that, say, was well loved and was utilized by the community,” St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation CEO Lecina Hicke said.
Hicke said this renovation not only increases accessibility, access and safety within the hospital, but "it also elevates that first impression for our community.”
She acknowledged the location of the hospital in west-side Saskatoon and noted ”a lot of people tend to put that in quotation marks."
“But we acknowledge that this community has significant and specific needs, and so the design, the physical space itself, as well as the programming that St. Paul's Hospital and Foundation are investing in are intended to acknowledge the unique needs of this community and position better experiences. So when we talk about safety, we not only talk about safety here in the hospital, we talk about community safety.
Understanding and acknowledging that sometimes a bridge is required to address having people feel safe, welcome, and cared for, whatever their circumstance might be.”
Carrie Dornstauder, Executive Director of St. Paul's Hospital, spoke of some of the new features added. She pointed to “two new healing gardens in the space that allow for patients and families to make interaction with land, with sunshine, with fresh air, having a lot of our families stay a really long time.”
One is located out the front entrance with the Sacred Heart statue, and another is to the back, she said.
Dornstauder also pointed to the “brand new Indigenous healing center and office spaces for our First Nation and Métis health team, guided by our elders, who we will help facilitate their dream and passion for what healing means in this community.”
According to the province’s news release, the Kikâwînaw wîki Healing Centre will honour holistic wellness, and be a quiet place for reflection, traditional healing practices and cultural ceremonies. Kikâwînaw wîki is Plains Cree for “Our Mother’s Home.”
There is also a community nook. “And so that community nook contains three ligature-free washrooms and two touchdown spaces for community agencies that are working with patients transitioning into hospital or back into community,” said Dornstauder.
Inside just past the expanded entrance are a gift shop, new washrooms, and relocated registration, visit information and protective services areas, according to the province.
The province says its investment was $14 million to the project, with additional contributions of $3.775 million from St. Paul’s Hospital (Grey Nuns) of Saskatoon and $600,000 from St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation. Graham Construction and Engineering Inc. was in charge of the construction.
The grand opening took place during a time when many questions have been raised about hospital security and safety in the province. The government has added new metal detectors in Regina and Saskatoon hospitals and have announced an independent review.
At the ribbon cutting, Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill believes the new entrance will enhance security efforts at the hospital.
“I think with the new front entrance here, you can see better sightlines for protective services. I think that's going to make the job of our protective services officers easier,” said Cockrill.
“Obviously, when you create a space that's a little bit more friendly, a little bit more accessible, obviously, I think the cultural space is also going to be very positive for patients coming in. But, yeah, I think this new entrance is going to help the work of protective services officers here at the front entrance.”
Cockrill adds that he has had several health care workers reach out to him directly over the weekend to talk about the rollout of metal detectors in the emergency rooms, including in St. Paul's Hospital.
“A good friend of mine, he has a family member that is an emergency room nurse here," Cockrill said. "And, you know, I just talked about, you know, the positive change that they're already seeing in the emergency room, in terms of, again, fewer dangerous items coming in and staff just having, you know, I'd say a higher degree of confidence that they're safe and that the patients that they're seeing are there to receive health care. And I think that's best for everybody. And I think the public can have a high degree of trust in the efforts being made to keep everyone safe.”
