Wards at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital’s new acute care wing are “state-of-the-art” that will enable patients to recover as quickly as possible, according to health chiefs.

The wing, which is scheduled to open in September at a cost of $247 million, houses three wards which can each accommodate 30 patients in single rooms.

Each ward is 19,260 square feet making them substantially larger than the wards in the current facility.

All wards in the Acute Care Wing will cater to patients diagnosed an acute - suffering from a condition that happens suddenly or very quickly and lasts for a short period. It can also refer to the immediate post-injury phase of healing.

“The new wing is state-of-the-art and has features that support improvements in patient care. Cared for in single patient suites clinical staff will be able to maintain patient privacy in carrying out their duties,” BHB Chief of Staff Michael Weitekamp said.

Chief of Nursing, Quality and Risk Management Judy Richardson added: “Patient confidentiality is paramount in hospitals. Single rooms will help to ensure privacy for the patient and for their medical information. Patients will no longer have to worry about their personal information being shared with other patients or visitors in their room. The medical team will be able to fully disclose the plan of care for their patients without fear of confidentiality being breached. This is best practice in North America. Single rooms will also help us to mitigate infection control risks.”

BHB CEO Venetta Symonds said that the design of the new wing “included a lot of detail in this area”.

“We specified clinical areas be soundproofed to ensure patient confidentiality,” she said.

“In key areas, we have carefully selected materials to meet the performance specifications as set out in the contract. For example, we have used an 1/8” thick 100 percent recyclable sheet acoustic insulation product which has been engineered to transform sound energy into trace amounts of friction energy instead of the more traditional thicker insulation material which absorbs the sound.”