For the first time ever, Prince Edward Island has made a donation to the IWK Foundation, in the amount of $2 million.
The money will go to the redevelopment of the emergency department.
The children’s hospital is the only level one pediatric trauma centre east of Montreal and its current ER is 40 years old.
Jennifer Gillivan, CEO and President of the IWK Foundation tells our newsroom, they realized they needed a new emergency department, as numbers went up and they started taking on more critical cases.
The hospital’s ER is now close to exceeding 45,000 patient visits every year, numbers never seen before.
So, Gillivan says, they came up with a design that she calls one of the best in North America- a “Disney model”, without one big waiting room.
“If you have been to Disneyland, you’re constantly moved through. In this scenario, you will be constantly moving through, and they will be triaging. So, the kid with the earache, versus a more serious case, everything will be triaged from the get-go.”
According to the foundation, the hospital has been gradually hiring new staff and will continue to do so, before the new ER opens.
The donation
Gillivan says there have been 227 inpatient stays from P.E.I., along with 6,500 outpatient clinic visits, with 63 visits to the ER just last year.
So, when they approached the Premier of P.E.I., Dennis King, about donating to the hospital as they undergo these developments, he didn’t even hesitate.
“He said, there’s not a street you can’t go down that someone has an IWK story.”
(Back L-R): Hon. Mark McLane, Minister of Health and Wellness; Hon. Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island; Kyle MacDonald, IWK Foundation Board of Trustees; Jennifer Gillivan, President & CEO, IWK Foundation; Trena Crewe, Vice President, Philanthropy, IWK Foundation. (Front L-R): Ruby, an IWK patient from PEI, and her mom, Alisha. Photo: IWK Foundation
Gullivan says, according to King, there’s not a person out there wouldn’t want to donate to the hospital.
What else makes the IWK unique?
The IWK not only specializes in medical care, but mental health as well.
Gullivan says it is an epidemic, “the polio of our generation without a vaccine”.
She says, the new ER will have an area for mental health, which she says is very unusual.
“The IWK is one of the few hospitals that does not separate medical care from psychiatric care. We combine so you can have a child that’s coming in with a physical problem that may actually be more of a psychiatric problem, and they don’t separate the two. So, this emergency department now will be keeping with the level that we sort of strive for.”
Continuing to fundraise
The redevelopment of the IWK emergency department is a provincial initiative.
However, Gullivan says, the IWK Foundation wanted to take it to the next level.
“We embarked on a $26.5 million fundraising campaign to actually bring in all those extras, bring in the best CT scanner …bring in all the things that we know are going to make this the best possible experience for the families and the kids that are going to use it and for the staff that are going to work there.”
“I don’t see any reason why our children shouldn’t have the best that is out there, the best that possibly we can get us. That’s what we are doing, that’s who we are.”
The new ER is expected to be ready by late 2026.
