Having a loved one in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) can be one of the hardest times a family will ever face.
Machines beep and whir as staff move in and out, day and night. In the midst of it all, families often struggle to find rest, privacy or peace of mind.
As Dr. Iain Arseneau, a critical care specialist at Royal University Hospital (RUH) explains: “It is one of the most stressful experiences of their life, if not the most stressful.”
Patients from across Saskatchewan come to RUH each day for specialized care. With your support, we can create a dedicated space for their families by upgrading the ICU Family Room. This work is part of an exciting expansion that will add seven new hospital beds, making RUH home to Saskatchewan’s largest ICU, providing care to the sickest patients in the province.
Your generosity will help equip the ICU with new technology and modern features to help patients heal faster and give healthcare teams what they need to provide life-saving care around the clock.
It’s an opportunity to make an investment in the future of care in Saskatchewan.
“It’s not just about the care that we need to be able to deliver today, it’s about putting ourselves in a position so that we can sustainably deliver access to critical care for the next 20-plus years,” says Dr. Arseneau.
Training tomorrow’s specialists, advancing care today
Upgrading the ICU will also help train the next generation of doctors. RUH is home to Saskatchewan’s largest group of medical residents, and nearly all of them spend time in the ICU learning how to care for very sick patients.
“Residents from all kinds of programs — whether it’s internal medicine, all the various surgical sub-specialties, emergency medicine or anesthesia — all rotate through the ICU to learn how to resuscitate critically ill patients,” says Dr. Arseneau.
Patients also benefit from ongoing international critical care trials directed by specialist Dr. Sabira Valiani. In these studies, the ICU team tests emerging therapies and work to improve existing treatments.
“We’re able to bring that cutting-edge care and knowledge to the whole team by participating in these trials,” says Dr. Valiani.
Updating the space will make it easier to perform and test these advanced procedures, improving both patient care and staff experience.
More space for teamwork, more support for families
Dr. Valiani chose critical care because of its emphasis on teamwork. In the ICU, physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, pharmacists, nutritionists, social workers and others work together every day at RUH to provide life-saving care.
With so many people involved, the ICU team needs more room to gather at the bedside for medical rounds. These meetings are also a time for families to join in, listen and ask questions — but only if there’s enough space.
“Having the right spaces for those conversations, and the ability to come together to support and treat the patient in the best way possible is really important,” says Dr. Valiani.
Improving the ICU space will strengthen the connection between families and staff, and help make the ICU a place where patients can heal with dignity — and families can feel supported during life’s most difficult moments.
Your donations support the future of intensive care in Saskatchewan. Visit ruhf.org or call 306.655.1984. Together we can change lives.
