10 new acute-care beds will nearly double Caraquet hospital’s capacity

Healthcare providers hope a new care unit, now open in Caraquet, will help reduce hospital wait times and improve patient experience. The new unit, announced by the province Wednesday, increases the number of acute care beds at L'Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus from 12 to 22. Dr. Gilbert Blanchard is a family physician who works at the hospital. He says the new unit will nearly double the hospital's capacity. It's also going to make it easier, he said, for staff to admit patients locally in Caraquet rather than traveling to Bathurst or Tracadie. The unit costs $8.3 million. Each room is for an individual patient. It features modern technology and safeguards for potential airborne outbreaks. L'Enfant Jésus is the only hospital in Caraquet with larger hospitals in Tracadie and Bathurst. It has faced staffing shortages in its emergency room and slowed down its overnight emergency services during an entire weekend last month due to a lack of doctors. According to the province, the unit creates about 25 new full-time jobs in nursing, physiotherapy and social work. Dr Blanchard says it strengthens the team to offer a higher quality of care and support for other staff members, something he says is vital in smaller hospitals like this one. The rooms will help treat patients in need of medical and palliative care. The unit welcomed its first patient last week.