St. Boniface ER Opens

 One of the things that has had last effects is the Pallister plan that saw ERs reduced to three locations, closing an existing and successful Urgent Care and turning former ERs to Urgent Cares. Even the health consultant thought that the closing of Misericordia was ill timed when other Urgent Cares were not yet established. The north, south and east sides of the city were now without ERs. 

Grace Hospitals ER was new and saw an influx of nurses from closed departments but St. Boniface just wasn't ready for what was to come in 2020. The announcement in 2019 by the Pallister government for a new ER for St. B did not come in time for Covid. The hospital had to work on the fly to handle things when they couldn't even cope with regular flu season.

The one surprising feature of the ER is the upward slope to the doors. Better have grandma's tires locked on her wheelchair or she is taking a 100 km ride down to Tache. It seems funny to spend $141 million and you can't have a flat service? Perhaps there is another entrance so someone with the walker doesn't have to push up hill to get it. And heaven forbid there is ice on that surface or people will shoot down that slide like toboggans.

A parking garage for 10 ambulances is a good feature. It is important because this the cardiac center. Every family in the region might have a member who may require an ambulance and being able to get patients into the ER promptly is part what make survival possible. 

The ER itself will be triple the size of the former ER. The former ER was 18,600 square feet and the new one will be 86,200 square feet. The government has said they have been recruiting heavily and have enough staff attracted to working in the new facility. So many staff have been recruited that according to the government, that tenders for Victoria Hospital's re-established ER can begin.

The ER is being promoted as a open concept, inclusive space. These are things that the end users will have to judge. The ER at Health Sciences Center had poor sight lines that were exacerbated by keeping triage nurses at their desks. Subsequently, a man died after no one took into account that he was waiting. In short, a new building can lead to poor outcomes if traffic flows, security, privacy and dignity are not constantly reevaluated.

The Emergency Room of a hospital is only one part of the hospital. If there are not enough enough beds and staff in ICUs and in the various wars, people get trapped in the ERs and in the waiting room. Many people walk away after so many hours. Often people are in the ER all day. The Access hospitals and Minor Injury clinics are helping. Some of the problem is that lack of family doctors for many. Problems fester and an ER visit is often the result. No one is immune from this. If you have a trauma or heart/stroke issue, you can end up in the ER. Or a member of your family is.

This is the first phase of the ER. It will reach full function in 2026. A lot is owed to the St. Boniface Foundation which kicked in $10 million for this building. Increasingly, hospital foundations are being leaned on for building and research. Manitoba has been very fortunate over the years to see foundations grow and grow. However, the cost of health grows just as fast.

As the role of St. Boniface Hospital's role grows, questions have to be asked about the traffic in and around the hospital. Parking becomes a bigger issue every year for staff and patients. It may come to the point where a park and ride system with shuttle bus is employed. It is possible parkades could be built too but they start at about $50 million and rise from there.

More and more hospitals are leaning on their foundations and relentless fundraising. The governments spend billions and still manage to starve certain areas so that infrastructure crumbles. Meanwhile projects often take take more than a decade to get done. So while we can be happy that St. B has a new ER and that by 2026 it will be fully operational, this list of areas to work on is long and exceed the lifespan of most government over two terms. Much like projects like the Red River Floodway, there has to be a buy in by all parties in government, by business, by labour and by the public for a well managed project that is goal oriented.

St. Boniface Hospital Emergency Room Expansion

Hospital construction is never cheap. Or easy. Or convenient. St. Boniface Hospital tried to renovate its emergency room over the last few years but with only three emergency rooms in the city, the hospital has really reached beyond capacity for what comes their way. The Conservatives realized that squeezing the heatlhcare system was making their election success more unlikely too late. They authorized St. Boniface work so that it's completion would only be 2025 at the earliest. Perhaps they thought the start of it would inspire confidence but the long waits in ERS only caused the public further hardship.

The cost of $141 million is funded through federal transfer payments and based on patient load at the hospital will be much needed. There is not much room for building at St. B. so they are building out towards Tache. Part of an old low-rise building was removed and a parking lot. This will be the 86,200 square foot new construction. There will also be a renovation of 18,000 of existing space. The 10 ambulance bay is also part of the plan.

In recent days the enormous estate of Miriam Bergen announced a $10 million donation to St. Boniface Hospital in part to the building of the ER. The overall estate is $500 million so we are likely to hear these type of donations for years to come. Her father and mother had also donated through the Martin and Ruth Bergen Cardiac Centre for $3 million. For a time St. Boniface Hospital had a out of town CEO. As being top executive of the hospital depends on meeting donors, living in Montreal seems a long way out of reach. Too may top executives living elsewhere have been phoning it in.

Sometime next the new ER wing will open up and then the focus will be to ensure it is staffed and ready to go. The Urgent Cares all need investment as well. These projects never happen quickly. The cuts can happen quickly but the build up is never quick. And building the ERs usually means, must mean building up investments elsewhere in the hospital but also to personal care homes. 

For St. Boniface the issue now and in the future is likely parking. The parkade is too small both across the street and underground. Cars are parked in private lots all over the neighbourhood. There are a few potential surface lots that could be converted by they aren't cheap. They start at $50 million and need to be maintained and secured. They often make people who have to work or use the hospital parkade bitter. But free parking would likely be filled day and night. Such is the woe if you build it, they will be come...and stay.

I don't know how parkades get paid for. Misericordia added another floor to their parkade recently but never heard how they did it. Even hospitals like Seven Oaks, Concordia, Grace and and Victoria don't have unlimited space. Hospitals are like large businesses. They are constantly fundraising in ways that just weren't seen 50 years ago. Most, like HSC, have built out to the road and upwards. St. Boniface is doing the same but the river and two bridges and parks limit how much they can extend themselves. It seems inevitable the build across Tache.

It seems ironic that there are better bus terminals for malls than there are for hospitals. Bike paths are not going to quite cut for the bulk of traffic going to hospitals. Ambulances need clear paths to get in and out. The city doesn't seem to plan for hospital traffic except to put parking meters up. Where is the bus terminus? As we have more buildings go up including medical school buildings, the bus or public transit question will only increase. Not to mention, where are the multi-unit houses close to hospitals? Not nearly enough. This means far too many staff and those who need medical treatment so far away.

In 2025 we'll have the new emergency room but will we planning nearly what we need to do have our hospitals and the locations they are serve the community better. Will HSC and St. B be like fortresses, inconvenient to get to, scary to stay at and awful places to work or will we be making them better for staff, patients and people who live next to them?

Festival du Voyageur

These pictures from the Festival du Voyageur site show Fort Gibraltar and part of the festival site. At 50 years, the festival is one of the largest and oldest festivals during winter in Canada.

Louis Riel Day is now a good addition to the celebrations in its 11th year. Many families take in the ice sculptures and maple shack, music and the fort.

Happy Louis Riel Day to everyone!

The Boozy Top 10 Events in Manitoba

Superspike

There are some events that have a reputation that precedes them. For the sake of distinguishing them in this province, let's call them the Boozy Top 10. These are the events surrounding festivals, sporting events, concerts and the like.

In no particular order.

1. Superspike: It has been thirteen years of volleyball, naughty named teams, shirtless men and barely there ladies in a hedonistic but good old fashioned competition of sport. While the younger set are there in droves, it is attracting larger participation every July. The planners tell people to send out one last tweet when sports wind down and drink flow. The reason: You won't remember the rest of the night.

Countryfest in Dauphin

2. Dauphin Countryfest: The sell out happens almost the moment the tickets are made available. For a short time, the grounds around Dauphin's country music stage resemble the biggest recreation vehicle parking lot in the west. The rains which happen very June since 1990 are no obstacle for the young fans. Nor is the pilgrimage down the various highways to get there. Jean shorts and cowboy hats and a crowd ready to dance. After comes a huge return on aluminum cans of beer empties.

Commercial Social...Business students unwind

 3. Commerce Social: The Asper School of Business Commerce students hold a variety of socials in a year. None holds a candle to their Christmas social in December. Other faculties for Nursing, Arts, Engineering will scramble for the eventual sell out even to mark the end of semester and holidays coming for Christmas. The boozy student event is a reminder that all work and no play makes for a very dull university campus.

4. Winnipeg Folk Festival: This July festival is whatever people make of it. The family enjoys but it has a boozy aspect the runs late into the night with drumming, music and fellowship. More laid back that some of their more raucous music cousins and sometimes less booze than a smokey evening but it makes one of North America's biggest events.

5. Folklorama: Canada's contribution to world peace. Cultural festival with dancing, singing, food and booze of the world. An event that draws many citizens of the province and beyond. It probably gave Epcot at Disney the idea that booze and culture is good. August always goes well with a yummy and entertaining Folklorama.

6. The Ball: The longest running pansexual fetish event possibly in North America. Held every few months in the Osborne Village Inn, it may be the only boozy event that boasts a dungeon. The Halloween social they host could be the event of the season for those who have the right costume and the right attitude.

7. Pride Winnipeg: A mix of events for family, friends and supporters. It also a beer tent and a dance party. They even had queer beer. Boozy, celebratory and growing each year. Another of the big June events.

8. Festival du Voyageur: It is February. Time to get the maple syrup and booze out and celebrate Manitoba's French culture and history. Lots of family things but a big social event dinner, lots of food and lots of booze. Perfect for a cold winter in Manitoba and great to visit St. Boniface.

9. Islendingadagurinn Festival: The alternative folk music fest happens during the Icelandic festival and so much more. It is the longest running event on lake Winnipeg and a food and boozy event much loved by the citizenry. You may even see Vikings!

10. Canada Day Osborne Village Street Festival: Canada's favourite neighbourhood closes the entire street on June 30, July 1 for Canada Day. Lots of family events but lots of restaurants and a few bars for the event to be one of the boozy top 10 for Winnipeg. Music, people watching, sun and food. A great street party.

Best Patio in Winnipeg 2012

Bar Italia on Corydon in July of 2009


What is the best patio in Winnipeg? This is a tough one based on the food you like, the location you like and a whole host of other of other things.

The one most people will gravitate to is Corydon Avenue where you might have more than a two dozen options on a nice evening. However, we are seeing a few other areas such as St. Boniface compete in this area as well.

I can attest to the fact that I am no expert when it comes to outdoor eating from one end of the city to the other.

What are some of your faves out there?