St. Boniface General Hospital

St. Boniface General Hospital (also called St. Boniface Hospital or St. B) is Manitoba's second-largest hospital, located in the Saint Boniface neighbourhood of Winnipeg. It was founded by the Sisters of Charity (Grey Nuns) of Montreal in 1871, and was the first hospital in Western Canada. The hospital was incorporated in 1960, and as of 2003 has 554 beds and 78 bassinets.St. Boniface Hospital is a tertiary health care facility, employing nearly 700 doctors and around 1,500 nurses. The hospital buildings cover about 120774m2. The St. Boniface Hospital & Research Foundation is the primary fundraising organization for the hospital. The general admissions program cares for 4,000 patients per year in-hospital, and about 40,000 as outpatients. Over 5,000 births per year occur at the hospital. St. Boniface is a regional centre for cardiac care, and is one of two specialized laboratory testing facilities. It also provides diagnostic imaging and hemodialysis for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.Besides patient care, St. Boniface Hospital also carries out medical research and offers practicum positions for university students through its affiliation with the University of Manitoba. The hospital's primary research mandate is in cardiovascular studies, imaging (especially MRI), neurodegenerative disorders, and nutraceuticals. The hospital also participates in clinical trials of research discoveries.