Mills Memorial Hospital Replacement - Terrace, BC

Thanks so much for your question. You are not the only one who has asked questions about the number of beds at the new hospital and whether it will be enough to accommodate the local and regional population’s needs going forward.

The rigorous planning process for the new Mills Memorial Hospital has taken place over approximately the past 10 years and was thoroughly reviewed throughout by the Ministry of Health. It consisted of several stages including master planning, master programming, concept planning, and finally, business planning.

During the planning stages, initial work centres around population projections - more specifically, what the age/sex adjusted population will look like 10, 20, 30, 40 years out. These projections are then modelled and used to estimate the healthcare demand for a community - from the number of diagnostic exams expected, to the number of inpatient hospital beds. 

Resource Planning Group (RPG), a leading consulting firm that specializes in master planning and functional programming in the health care sector was part of the MMH planning process. This firm worked diligently, using the same method they’ve used to calculate bed counts in other new facilities, to calculate the appropriate bed counts for the new Mills Memorial Hospital.

You asked specifically about the number of beds in the medical/surgical department.

Northern Health has undertaken various bed modelling work for both acute and long-term care, and the different hospital departments. This takes many factors into account including, but not limited to, emerging technologies that impact hospital stays, future redevelopment work, future plans for other facilities and services, and design features to help manage potential overflow.

For example, attention is being paid to the number of Alternate Level of Care (ALC) patient counts in hospitals, which we recognize have been and remain high. Planning for additional long term care capacity in communities, which is underway regionally and provincially, would see these patients being cared for in other facilities or environments, freeing up acute care bed capacity.

Another example is planning for expanding psychiatry bed capacity outside of acute care units such as med-surg.

Taking these and other new measures into account, it is anticipated that the new bed counts will be appropriate for future service levels.

We understand staff concerns around bed counts and having sufficient resources and means to give all patients the best care possible. We assure you that we share these concerns and are doing our best to address them.

As for future questions or if you wish more information, we are planning to host several information sessions on the new hospital in the fall. Some of these information sessions will be public, while others will be specifically for MMH staff and physicians.

You can also email letstalkMMH@northernhealth.ca if you have further questions.

Thanks for asking about this important issue. Northern Health does not manage blood donations. Blood donation in Canada is managed and coordinated by Canadian Blood Services (https://www.blood.ca/en). Should Canadian Blood Services reach out to Northern Health about donor clinics in our area, we would aim to work with them to support that. However, there’s no dedicated area in the new hospital for this purpose.

As for blood supply for patients, Mills Memorial Hospital has a supply of blood on hand at all times.

More info about donating blood can also be found at Health Link BC: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/uf10217

Thanks for asking about this important issue. Northern Health does not manage blood donations. Blood donation in Canada is managed and coordinated by Canadian Blood Services (https://www.blood.ca/en). Should Canadian Blood Services reach out to Northern Health about donor clinics in our area, we would aim to work with them to support that. However, there’s no dedicated area in the new hospital for this purpose.

As for blood supply for patients, Mills Memorial Hospital has a supply of blood on hand at all times.

More info about donating blood can also be found at Health Link BC: https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/uf10217

Thanks for the question as it's one we get often. Plans for the new hospital do no include a helipad.

Northern Health had a third party lead a process to review the development of a helipad as part of the Mills Memorial Hospital replacement project. Two final reports from this process are available to the public: 

• Final assessment report
• Ground Effects Aerodrome report

The review process concluded that:

• The airport is the optimal location for fixed and rotary wing emergency transportation
• The current project is prohibitive for the development of a ground level helipad at this time
• The risks associated with helicopters incidents at a healthcare facility helipad when compared to the short travel distance from the airport to the helipad are significant

Northern Health remains committed to long-term planning for air support and further reviews of helipad locations may occur in the future. 

Yes! The current plans do have locked bike storage. 

Hi. Thanks for the question! Flat roofs are actually quite common for commercial buildings and have many benefits. They tend to leak as a result of defects. The roof of the new hospital will have a small slope to drain water to designated drain points. Hopefully that eases some of your concerns.

Hi. The current design for the new Mills Memorial Hospital has four storeys and a basement. The first three storeys will be operational, while the fourth will house the mechanics for the building. As the project proceeds, a draft design will be available for the public to view. Thanks for the question!

Thank you for your question. Northern Health's Mills Memorial Replacement project is in the Request for Proposal (RFP) phase. All subcontracts will be administered by the proponent selected through the RFP process. The proponent will be announced publicly when the decision has been finalized. Please check back for this information. Thanks!