Foothills Medical Centre is the largest hospital in Alberta and located in the city ofCalgary. It is one of Canada's most recognized medical facilities as well as one of the leading hospitals in Canada, providing advanced healthcare services to over two million people from Calgary, southern Alberta, southeastern British Columbia and southern Saskatchewan. Formerly operated by the Calgary Health Region, it is now under the authority of Alberta Health Services and part of the University of Calgary Medical Centre. The main building of the hospital was opened in June 1966. It was originally named 'Foothills Provincial General Hospital' and later known simply as Foothills Hospital. With the addition of other medical facilities, it became known by its present name. Foothills Medical Centre is an accredited Level 1 trauma centre by the Trauma Association of Canada and is the largest regional trauma centre in Southern Alberta. In addition, FMC is accredited by Accreditation Canada for stroke rehabilitation. FMC works in conjunction with the nearby University of Calgary for the purposes of educating students as well as providing facilities for medical research. FMC includes the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, as well as the Special Services Building and the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, which was renamed the "Cancer Centre", and is a leading centre in Alberta for cancer treatment and research. The large site also features Grace Women's Health Centre, which specializes in women's health, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, as well as both the North Tower and South Tower, which offer many outpatient services. The head office of Libin Cardiovascular Institute of Alberta is located on the 8th floor of the Foothills Medical Centre. The TRW Building was also added to the Health Sciences building, which was completed in late 2005. In addition, the new McCaig Tower opened in October 2010 with 93 inpatient beds, 36 bed intensive care unit, 21 short-stay beds, as well as 8 operating rooms. In November 2011, the newly designed Intensive Care Unit was awarded the 2012 Design Citation for being "one of the best in the world". The neighbouring Alberta Children's Hospital and west side of the University of Calgary campus are accessible from FMC via West Campus Boulevard. Apart from these distinctions, FMC boasts the world's first and most powerful movable MRI machine, which was introduced in January 2009. It will help patients at the Foothills Medical Centre receive the world’s safest, most accurate surgery possible. In addition, the world's first robotic surgery was also performed on a patient at the FMC for a removal of a brain tumour, which also created a landmark in Canadian medical history. In June 2010, the Calgary Stroke Program, an initiative of the Foothills Medical Centre, was awarded the "Stroke Services Distinction" and is recognized as one of two leading stroke centres in Canada, the other in Toronto, by Accreditation Canada.
Alberta Health Services
The Foothills Medical Centre is one of twelve hospitals in the Calgary zone that has a population of 1,408,606 and an average life expectancy of 82.9 years.
Current description
In addition to a 24-hour emergency room and inpatient care, FMC has 57 outpatient clinics on site. This facility provides comprehensive and specialized medical and surgical services to Calgary and Southern Alberta:
26 bed intensive care unit and 24 bed cardiac intensive care unit
Multiple transplantation such as kidney, pancreas, corneal and tissue transplants.
HOPE Program
University of Calgary Medical Clinic clinics
The Colon Cancer Screening Centre - providing screening colonoscopies to hundreds of patients a month.
Chronology of hospital projects
1958
Provincial and territorial hospital insurance plans. The Prime Minister of Canada, John Diefenbaker, declares federal grants are available to provincial hospital-care projects, 50 cents on the dollar financing, from Ottawa.
Planning continues for 100-bed auxiliary hospital and 370 beds for psychiatric patients.
1966 to 2007 and beyond
2001
November, new 14-bed inpatient stroke unit, Unit 100.
2006
October 19, as part of a C$1.7 billion expansion for Foothills Medical Centre the Calgary Health Region named the new tower the JR McCaig Tower after well-known local philanthropist, Bud McCaig. McCaig who had died in 2005 was the founder of Alberta Bone & Joint Health Institute.
2010
C$460M 8-storey tower, JR McCaig Tower.
2017
C$1.4B Calgary Cancer Center.
Parking
The Foothills Medical Centre has eleven parking lots with payment options including passes: monthly, weekly, daily or half-hour with some discounts for seniors, etc., with authorization forms. A general monthly pass with no authorization form costs $125 if available. Some parking lots/stalls are designated for people with disabilities only.
