Current Medical Transition Unit at Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital closed

Final patients discharged from converted ambulance bay while work to enhance capacity and patient flow at the DECRH continues to progress

(FREDERICTON) — Horizon Health Network (Horizon) has closed the Medical Transition Unit (MTU) located within the converted ambulance bay at the Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital (DECRH) to patients.

The unit’s remaining patients have been discharged or moved to another space in the hospital.

The MTU was created in 2024 as an urgent, temporary measure to address chronic overcapacity pressures at the hospital. It provided clinical space for patients admitted through the Emergency Department (ED) who were awaiting transfer to a bed in the hospital.

“The hospital was in a situation, at the time, where there was simply no space to address what we hoped would be temporary challenges. However, it became clear we needed this capacity on an ongoing basis,” said Margaret Melanson, Horizon’s President and CEO. “We’re now in a position to be able to have these patients elsewhere and are continuing work to improve patient capacity at the DECRH. While that work is ongoing, we are able today to no longer require the converted bay for patients.”

As part of that broader plan, ambulatory care clinics previously located on the 4 West inpatient unit – including orthopedic, general surgery and wound care clinics – are being relocated to another area of the hospital, resulting in the creation of 13 additional acute care spaces.

Work to establish 4 West as a dedicated clinical home for the MTU is progressing steadily and expected to be completed later in the spring.

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