Lois Hole Hospital for Women - Official Opening

Robbins Pavilion, Royal Alexandra Hospital

Your Honour Lieutenant Governor Norman Kwong, Your Honour Mrs. Kwong, Premier Stelmach, Ministers, Members of the Legislature, municipal leaders and fellow citizens of Alberta, all:

It is my very deep pleasure to be with you here today to celebrate the official opening of the Lois Hole Hospital for Women.

On this day, I'd also like to make special mention of his Honour, the Honourable Norman L. Kwong, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, and Her Honour, Mary Kwong. You have served your communities and your Province with style, charm and determination. You have earned your opportunity to spend more time with your great family, and your friends. You have earned our collective respect over decades.

Well, this is a day of great pride for all of us at Alberta Health Services. This new women’s hospital has a critical role to play in advancing women’s health in Alberta and beyond.

I’d like to acknowledge and thank the Government of Alberta for making this day possible. The government continues to make very substantial commitments on behalf of the people of Alberta.  On behalf of Alberta Health Services, I thank your government, Premier Stelmach and your colleagues including those here today; the Minister of Health and Wellness, Gene Zwozdesky; Minister of Infrastructure, Ray Danyluk, and Minister of Service Alberta, Heather Klimchuk, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs, Jonathan Denis.

On behalf of Alberta Health Services – including our President and Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Stephen Duckett, who is also here today – we are grateful for your invaluable support of this leading-edge women’s hospital that will better equip our staff and physicians to meet the needs of our patients and families.

The Lois Hole Hospital for Women will focus on clinical care in high-risk obstetrics, specialized gynecological services, and surgery, as well as innovation and research, prevention, and education.

It will provide women—of all ages and stages of life—with a range of care. Care for the women and families of Alberta and even Canada’s North. We are proud to be a good neighbour. We are proud to share our good fortune with our neighbouring territories and provinces.

And while that message of accessibility stretches far across the province, it also means better access, and therefore, quality, right here on site.

When you bring specialized services for women under one roof, patients can more easily get the outpatient services they require, while staff and physicians have closer access to their patients. Fewer steps mean better access and better quality.

This model of infrastructure, “a hospital within a hospital,” also helps to improve sustainability by sharing resources with the larger pavilion and site. 

The women’s hospital was also planned with the vision to accommodate our population in the future, with room to grow when the time comes.

We’re proud of the vision and commitment our staff, physicians, and site leadership have demonstrated in planning for the Lois Hole Hospital for Women.

It’s clear that this achievement was due in large part to the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s hard-working family culture.

We’re grateful for the care you will provide to the women and families who access the new hospital.

Your commitment and hard work to improving women’s health in our province and the continuous journey toward excellence is truly something to be recognized and celebrated.

We’re also proud to serve a community so willing to step up and bring a dream like this to life. Working relationships with the community are key to supporting quality, accessible healthcare.

I would like to thank the Royal Alexandra Hospital Foundation and all the donors. You play an important role in ensuring that we continue to advance health in our communities. Your generosity will make a big difference in many lives.

And, finally, I would like to thank the Hole family for participating in this celebration today for their mother and grandmother: Lois Hole.  This centre of excellence is a testament to her character and vision and her resolve to build a better community.

Nearly everyone who ever met Lois Hole received a hug. A genuine, friendly, touching warm hug. May that spirit - the spirit of the hug - fill this hospital which is so appropriately named after Lois Hole.

We all would be fortunate indeed, if the spirit of the Lois Hole hug took root here in this fine hospital, then spread, to become the hallmark of health service….. right across Alberta.

Thank you.

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