100 acute care beds coming to Peter Lougheed Centre, province says

A temporary structure at the Peter Lougheed Centre in northeast Calgarywill help to provide additional capacity as the hospital seeks to accommodate growing cases of COVID-19.

The Alberta-based Sprung Structures donated the structure to Alberta Health Services (AHS), which will provide 6,000 square feet of treatment space when complete. That will translate into approximately 100 more care spaces for patients.

The donation is worth about$235,000, according to a release.

Speaking during Thursday's daily press briefing,Health Minister Tyler Shandro said AHS would invest up to $3 million to modify the structure's interior.

"[AHS will] quickly turn the structure into a site for safe, high-quality healthcare delivery, one that meets standards of infection prevention and control," he said.

The treatment space will be constructed in the hospital's parking lot, and is expected to be fully equipped by the end of the month.

The Peter Lougheed Centre already was seeing 80,000 patients each year before the pandemic hit more than double what it was intended to serve when it opened in 1988.

In February before Alberta saw its firstCOVID-19 case the provincial government announced it would provide $137 million to fund an expansion to the hospital's emergency room and mental health services.