The new Portage la Prairie hospital will feature an array of advanced technologies designed to improve patient care and operational efficiency, and it's all set to fully open for service in approximately 2027. The new name is the Portage Regional Health Centre.
Implementation Lead on the construction project Kyle MacNair outlines new innovations that will be part of the facility.
“In emergency, we’ll have smart privacy glass that can switch between frosted and transparent,” MacNair says. “Each emergency treatment room will be private and controlled electronically.”
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The hospital will also transition to electronic health records, using mobile workstations on wheels throughout the building.
“We’ll be documenting care digitally, eliminating much of the paper trail used in the current facility,” he says.
Medication will be dispensed through automated systems known as Automated Dispensing Cabinets (ADC), which use secure, barcoded systems to reduce the risk of error.
“They confirm that the right medication is being delivered to the right patient at the right time,” he adds.
The surgical suites are also seeing significant upgrades.
“Our surgical lights have cameras embedded in them,” MacNair says. “If surgeons need images or video of a procedure, the lights can record and transmit those directly.”
In addition, the entire building will be monitored by a sophisticated Building Management System (BMS).
“All refrigerators containing medication, blood products, or lab samples will be monitored 24/7 to ensure they stay within temperature range,” MacNair says. “It’s a major advancement in safety and accountability.”
Gradual tech rollout to ease training demands
Despite the technological upgrades, the hospital is taking a measured approach to implementation. MacNair says the sheer volume of new systems means that not everything will launch at once.
“Our goal is to become fully paperless, but we’re rolling out electronic health record components in phases,” he says. “We’ll start with some in the existing hospital, then move them over, and continue adding components once we’re in the new building.”
He notes that staff will receive extensive training over several months to ensure the transition is smooth and sustainable.
“We’re introducing medication management and select health record systems right away, but we’re spacing out the rest to avoid overwhelming our teams,” MacNair says.