What services are going into Yellowknife's old Stanton Hospital?

Several health services spread across Yellowknife will move into the old Stanton Hospital building when it reopens.

The facility is expected to start operating this summer. When that happens, the Frame Lake health centre, outpatient rehab services currently located in the Centre Square Mall, and the Stanton Medical Centre will all be moving, said Lorie-Anne Danielson, the chief operating officer of the Yellowknife region for the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority.

Pre-scheduled appointments at the downtown Yellowknife Primary Care Clinic will also move to the old Stanton Hospital. 

"This was actually always part of the vision of creating a campus of care at the Stanton Hospital site, to make it convenient for individuals to access a variety of our services in one place," Danielson said.

She added it should be more convenient for people coming in from other communities, as well. The building shares a parking lot with the new Stanton Territorial Hospital.

When it opens, it will also be the new home for residents from the extended care unit at Stanton Territorial Hospital, as well as new long-term care beds.

Some services will remain downtown, such as lab and diagnostic imaging services, and same-day appointments at the Primary Care Clinic. Danielson said retaining some services downtown was "at the core" of the health authority's decision-making process, especially for people who would face barriers to accessing services elsewhere.

"That's why we have some of the services being maintained downtown," Danielson said. "Our same-day access services will still be offered downtown that already exist in our Yellowknife Primary Care [clinic] and will be staying."

Though the facility is expected to start operating this summer, Danielson said the exact opening date is "a bit of a moving target."

"That will depend on our construction times and the operational readiness of the new facility," she said.

Plans to move health services to the old hospital building have been underway for a few years, with contractors working to retrofit the building since 2019.