Hospital staff, donors, community members and health care partners today celebrated the opening of Kingston General Hospital's new dialysis unit. The new space is part of the hospital's multi-year, multi-million dollar overall redevelopment project.  

The new, fully accessible unit will consolidate all acute dialysis services in one expanded and enhanced location for the region's most acute and fragile renal patients to receive care. The unit is larger, brighter and more comfortable than its current space within the hospital.  

Highlights of the new unit include: 

  • increased capacity for up to 40 dialysis treatment stations; 
  • larger individual treatment stations; 
  • double the number of isolation treatment stations to control infection;
  • expanded procedure, treatment and waiting areas; 
  • state-of-the-art water purification system; 
  • mechanical patient lifts;  
  • enhanced privacy and comfort; 
  • 'Green' features include: 
    o energy efficient lighting and windows; 
    o automatic faucets to reduce water consumption; and
    o solar shades to reduce interior heat gain and minimize need for air conditioning in the summer. 

Patients will begin receiving treatment in the new space December 6, 2010. 

“Through the expansion and redevelopment of Kingston General Hospital, local residents will continue to receive access to modern, high quality health care close to home,” said John Gerretsen, MPP for Kingston and the Islands. 

“This new dialysis unit is larger and brighter and will provide patients and families with enhanced privacy and comfort. This expanded space also gives us the capacity to increase the number of treatments we provide should the need arise,” said Leslee Thompson, President and CEO, Kingston General Hospital 

Construction on the overall redevelopment project began in July 2008 and includes 170,000 square feet of new space and more than 143,000 square feet of renovations. The project is more than 80 per cent complete and is progressing on time and on budget to be completed in spring 2012. Currently, there are more than 175 workers on site daily, 90 per cent of which are locally sourced. 

Infrastructure Ontario and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care are working with Kingston General Hospital to redevelop the facility, which will remain publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable. 

Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to delivering some of the province's larger and more complex infrastructure renewal projects - ensuring they are built on time and on budget; as well, it is dedicated to providing the public sector and not-for-profit organizations with long-term financing to renew their infrastructure. 

Visit www.infrastructureontario.ca or visit www.kgh.on.ca for more information. 

Contacts: 

Terence Foran 

Infrastructure Ontario 

416-325-2939 

Karen Smith 

Kingston General Hospital

613-549-6666, Ext. 6345 

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