Banff Mineral Springs Hospital is planning to reconfigure its emergency room in order to provide a safe room to better care for patients in crisis.
MSH executive director Cindy Mulherin said a safe room, which is a standard feature in the emergency rooms of new hospitals, would provide a safe, quiet and private environment for patients who need a greater level of care than most ER patients.
A safe room would also provide security for staff and patients.
“The hospital is a place that people come to in crisis and they are looking for help and we have professionals who can help manage them and channel them in the right direction so they can get their feet back on the ground,” Mulherin said Jan. 13.
“Sometimes we think of a room like this (as) relevant to a particular group of people, but it’s relevant that people from any walk of life can go through a difficult time and many will experience situational crises at some point in their life and as a hospital and health care provider it is our duty to provide a safe environment for them. It’s our obligation is to look after this vulnerable population.”
The safe room will be soundproof and if necessary, the door can be locked to provide security for staff and patients, depending on the circumstances of the situation.
“People come into a situation where it is not the norm for them and they need quiet and they need more than a curtain. You want the conversation protected too. Often all that is separating you from another patient is a curtain and that is not conducive to good patient care,” Mulherin said.
“Often what we are dealing with are situational crises, so it could be the loss of a job; it could be family dynamics; it could be family breakups; it could be related to substance abuse or financial crises,” Mulherin said.
“If you had a patient not in control of their behaviour, it’s also a place where we can place a patient and staff will be protected.”
Emergency services manager Margie Smith said many crises are short-term and situational, but if the hospital cannot provide the proper level of care, a patient has to be sent to Calgary.
And that, Smith said, can escalate a crisis a patient is experiencing.
“If we have a safe place to keep them here in their own community and tap them into the resources in our community, and we have lots of mental health resources in our community, they are tapped into the right resources and not in the city,” Smith said.
The safe room has been on the books for several years and MSH has raised $30,000 to date from individual donations and local organizations such as the MSH auxiliary and the Banff chapters of the Imperial Order of the Daughters of the Empire and Soroptimist International.
The total budget is $84,000.
Leslie de Bie, co-ordinator of volunteer services and foundation support for Covenant Health Banff Mineral Springs Hospital, said the hospital is hoping MSH’s upcoming Motown gala will provide the remaining $54,000.
De Bie said the 14th annual gala, which is scheduled for the Fairmont Banff Springs in the Alberta/New Brunswick room Friday (Jan. 31) starting at 6:30 p.m. with feature a martini bar followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $160 each or a table of 10 is $1,500.
Calgary soul, R&B, blues and reggae band Mocking Shadows will provide entertainment.
The gala will also feature a live and silent auction featuring prizes and packages provided by the Lake Louise Ski Area, Fairmont, Mount Assiniboine Lodge, Storm Mountain Lodge and Baker Creek Mountain Resort.
De Bie said auction items also include a Kennedy Space Centre astronaut adventure, a day as a NASCAR driver and a New Orleans jazz and dining experience.
Tickets are available at www.banffmineralspringshospital.com or in person at the MSH admitting desk or at The Mountain Art Gallery on Banff Avenue.
Mulherin said if the gala is successful, construction on the safe room would begin this summer.
“If we have a successful gala we may very well achieve our fundraising goal and see the construction of this room commence before summer,” she said.
In 2011-12 the MSH emergency room had 10,988 visits.
