Discussions surrounding the addition of more acute care beds to the Dauphin Regional Health Centre are underway between Prairie Mountain Health and the provincial government.
Prairie Mountain Health CEO Brian Schoonbaert says the addition of two new suites is allowing for these discussions to take place.
"We have a new chemotherapy unit there, which is great. And our new endoscopy suite is close to opening - hopefully, that is only about a month away. There will be renovations done to increase the beds at Dauphin Health Centre."
"That may seem to fly in the face of the staffing shortages. But the issue is we need to increase the beds in Dauphin, based on projections. That is going to be done soon, now that chemotherapy has moved out, we will be doing some other shifting and there is a plan to do some renovations and increase the number of beds."
No start date or timeline has been given for the renovations, as both sides are still discussing details of the work.
Schoonbaert hopes that by time the additional beds become available, the appropriate staffing levels for those beds will be met.
