Seven new patient rooms for the newly renovated MGH ED

The newly renovated Emergency Department (ED) of the Montreal General Hospital (MGH) will have a positive impact on MUHC patients and families, as well as our hardworking staff.

Three years of assiduous renovations have finally culminated in a beautifully modernized ED, which features seven new patient rooms among other significant improvements. There’s a new ventilation unit, two full bathrooms with showers, sinks in each of the seven new patient rooms, negative pressure rooms, and a new pharmacy zone, among other improvements.

Josée Larocque, Nursing Professional Development Educator, highlights the impact that these renovations will have on patient care, especially when it comes to monitoring: “Monitoring is the heart of the ED, and we now get to do our work in a wide-open, brighter space,” she says. 

“We had to make huge asks to get these renovations done,” says Jacques Avital, Project Manager. “The ED remained at 150 % capacity every day, if not more, yet nurses cooperated with us to accomplish this work. The nurses here were amazing to work with.” 

Jacques also thanks other essential teams: “Planning, Biomed, Building Services, Telecom, IS, Security, Housekeeping, Infection Control, and many more MUHC departments made this project a success!” 

Collaboration leads to wonderful results 

Jacques and his team divided their work into phases to minimize the impact on the ED’s activities. If staff ever requested that renovations pause for a time, the team would dutifully oblige. Ultimately, the renovated ED is the result of communication, collaboration and mutual respect between both teams.   

“This is a triumph made possible through resilient cooperation. Thank you to the MGH ED staff for waiting patiently for this important work to come to fruition. Our patients are in extremely good hands in this improved workspace, with such caring and competent staff," says Jacques.   

“I was working as a nurse during the construction and it was great to see how we all came together and adapted to our new environment as a team,” says Michelle Samaha, who currently works as an Advanced Practice Nurse in the ED. “The ED nurses, PABs and clerks are resilient, and this project demonstrated that.”