The
Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is a 274 bed
acute careAcute care is a branch of secondary health care where a patient receives active but short-term treatment for a severe injury or episode of illness, an urgent medical condition, or during recovery from surgery...
hospital located in
CharlottetownCharlottetown is a Canadian city. It is both the largest city on and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of George III, Charlottetown was first incorporated as a town in 1855 and designated as a city in 1885...
,
Prince Edward IslandPrince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, making it the largest hospital in the province.
The facility opened in 1982, resulting in the closure of the
Charlottetown HospitalThe Charlottetown Hospital is a former acute care hospital that was located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the first public hospital established in the province....
and the
Prince Edward Island HospitalThe Prince Edward Island Hospital is a former acute care hospital that was located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the first public general hospital established in the province and the largest such facility throughout its history....
and is named in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The QEH is located on a large forested campus originally known as
Falconwood Farm in the northeast corner of the city adjoining the neighbourhoods of
East RoyaltyEast Royalty is a neighbourhood of the Canadian city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.East Royalty is located in the northeast portion of the city and occupies the eastern part of the township of Queens Royalty....
and
SherwoodSherwood is a neighbourhood of the city of Charlottetown in central Queens County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.Sherwood is centrally located in Charlottetown on the border of Queens Royalty and the township of Lot 33....
, overlooking the
Hillsborough RiverThe Hillsborough River, also known as the East River, is a Canadian river in northeastern Queens County, Prince Edward Island.-Battle at Port-la-Joye :...
. The
Hillsborough HospitalThe Hillsborough Hospital is a psychiatric hospital in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It is the province's only mental health facility.It is a 75-bed facility providing 24 hr/day, 7 day/week medical services for individuals who are facing acute or enduring mental illnesses.-Mission:As the...
is a
psychiatric hospitalPsychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
located on an adjacent property.
The QEH is a full-service health care facility that provides community services to residents of
Queens CountyQueens County is located in central Prince Edward Island, Canada. The county is geographically divided by the Hillsborough River's estuary, a tidal inlet which almost splits the county and Prince Edward Island...
and is a major referral centre for specialty services for residents across Prince Edward Island.
The QEH provides medical,
surgicalSurgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
,
ICUthumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
,
CCUA coronary care unit is a hospital ward specialized in the care of patients with heart attacks, unstable angina, Cardiac dysrhythmia and various other cardiac conditions that require continuous monitoring and treatment.-Characteristics:...
,
obstetricsObstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...
,
neonatalNeonatal nursing is the provision of nursing care for newborn infants up to 28 days after birth. The term neonatal comes from neo, "new", and natal, "pertaining to birth or origin"...
,
pediatricsPediatrics or paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. A medical practitioner who specializes in this area is known as a pediatrician or paediatrician...
,
psychiatryPsychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
and rehabilitation services. The hospital offers full surgical, laboratory and
radiologyRadiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies to diagnose or treat diseases...
services 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.
In 1999 the
Prince Edward Island Cancer Treatment Centre opened a new facility at the QEH and was expanded in 2003. At the same time, the main entrance to the QEH off Riverside Drive was upgraded and the
emergency departmentAn emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
was expanded.
The opening of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in 1982 also saw the end of
abortionAbortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
services in the province; one of the conditions that the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
placed on the provincial government for merging the Catholic-affiliated
Charlottetown HospitalThe Charlottetown Hospital is a former acute care hospital that was located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the first public hospital established in the province....
with the secular
Prince Edward Island HospitalThe Prince Edward Island Hospital is a former acute care hospital that was located in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. It was the first public general hospital established in the province and the largest such facility throughout its history....
into the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital being that all abortion services in the province be discontinued.