Brampton –It was a long, careful, and complicated day for hospital workers in Brampton Sunday.  With the opening of the new Brampton Civic Hospital and temporary closing of Peel Memorial Hospital, they had to transfer and immediately accomodate all of the 234 inpatients from the old building to the new one, and did it ahead of schedule, starting at 7:00 am and finishing by 1:45 pm.

A convoy of ambulances could be seen driving along Bovaird Drive both ways all morning as one by one, they rolled from Peel Memorial to Brampton Civic and back again transporting patients starting with two key groups; William Osler Health Centre President and CEO Bob Richards says infants was one and that ”the hospital for Sick Kids were kind enough to help us with some of those transports.”

Pete Dundas, Director of Peel Regional Paramedic Services says they took every precaution with the other group, critical care patients.  “All equipment that is required for the patients is being transported with them” he says of the more frail.  They were also escorted by any necessary nurses to make sure their health didn’t change during the ride and setup in their new rooms.

On average, each hospital had an ambulance arriving to pick up or drop off a patient every two minutes, and Peel paramedics had help from surrounding services like Toronto, York Region and London.

The old Peel Memorial Hospital will be temporarily shut down for the next two to three years as a redevelopment plan is mapped out and inititated, reopening again sometime around 2009 or 2010.

Brampton Civic Hospital spans 1.3 million square feet and currently has 479 beds but will get an additional 129 over the next few years.  It also has 12 operating rooms at the moment, expanding to 18 within the next three years.  It officially opens to the public and reinstates normal visiting hours Monday.