The hospital has features such as automated kiosks, where patients are able to enter their information to be given their medication from a robotic arm. It also features a fully digital management system that counts, organizes and checks the expiration date on all of the drugs at the hospital. This is to ensure that patients are receiving the correct treatment, said a statement from Humber River Hospital.

Humber River Hospital will hold 656 beds and have fully digital features that will provide the most advanced technology currently available. The radiology department now has robots that are able to position a patient during an X-ray procedure. This will help so patients do not have to try and follow demands, as the robot will be able to help them get into position, according to Tech Times.

In the Chemotherapy department, the robots will be able to sort the drugs prescribed by doctors for the patients after checking the dosage on each of the patients. After this is finished, the medicine will be checked by the hospital staff through a barcode the robot has put on the package, according to Tech Times. A new, advanced information management system is also available, which will help with the organization and distribution of patient treatment.

Viewing the records of the patients will also be more efficient. According to Humber River Hospital, each bed will hold a touchpad where the patient is able to view their medical charts, adjust the room temperature, make phone calls, play video games or watch television. While you are able to use the touchpad at the bedside, you will also still see robots that will be delivering food and linens to the rooms.

Construction on the hospital began in September 2011 and cost approximately $1.7 billion. Although there is new technology, according to the hospital, the facility is working to remain environmentally friendly by installing a green roof and a system that decreases energy consumption, a statement from Humber River Hospital said. According to a release from the Ontario government, the hospital was designed and built to LEED standards and focuses on a healthy indoor environment.

As the move was extensive and 350 patients had to be moved, the hospital was also given the help from volunteers, outside staff and the hospital staff. In total, the move took 800 staff and volunteers and 36 different transfer vehicles. The new hospital will have an increase in capacity from 549 beds to 656, there will be expanded ambulatory, emergency and critical care services, modern diagnostics equipment to enable a more detailed and accurate diagnosis and treatment and updated infectious disease control systems to monitor and prevent infections, according to a news release from the Ontario Government.
 

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The addition of a second building doubled the size of the hospital. PCL Constructors, Canada Inc. worked with B+H Architects to expand and enhance lab space to allow for more automated test results. Together the companies transformed the old Emergency Center into a new Cancer Center and designed two sets of operating centers. Building A has been designed for one-day procedures and includes 6 new operating rooms. Building B has 10 new operating rooms that have been reserved for larger and more serious cases. This new space has the ability to use minimally invasive technology for surgeries.

The new building will be a “calm, simple building without a lot of details,” said Suman Bahl, vice president of corporate services and capital development at Markham Stouffville Hospital, in a statement. The $400 million project was able to recycle 90 percent of the waste created by construction. PCL Constructors was able to divert the waste, such as concrete, metal, wood and drywall from going to landfills by using it in different parts of the hospital.

Construction, which began in December of 2010, was finished on August 20, 2014. Due to the process of obtaining LEED certification, the hospital was not certified as LEED Silver until a full year later. Some of the components added to the facility to help with the certification were a white roof membrane and green roof areas, exterior lighting designed to minimize light pollution and the installation of low-flow fixtures to reduce water usage throughout the hospital. Mike Wieninger, Vice President and district manager for PCL Constructors Inc. said, “By nature, hospitals require more air exchanges and water than typical buildings, making them more sophisticated to construct sustainably.” By installing the low-flow fixtures, PCL Constructors and the Markham Stouffville Hospital are going to be able to save 40 percent on water usage.

B+H Architects and PCL Constructors did not just focus on making the building sustainable and green after construction. During the project, 16 percent of the materials came from recycled content. The companies also tried to source locally with 31 percent of the material being manufactured and harvested with 800 km’s of the project or 2,400 km’s from the project if shipped by railway or water.

Markham Stouffville Hospital will be the first hospital in Ontario to build a central utility plant that supplies thermal energy, electricity and emergency power through the Markham District Energy, which will save them an estimated 37 percent on energy.

The hospital also wants to inform their staff on the importance of sustainability and what they will be able to do to help with energy savings. The former Intensive Care Unit has been converted into a learning center for the staff and is connected to the city’s Cornell Community Center. The staff at Markham Stouffville Hospital are still getting used to the new system and ways that they can achieve maximum efficiency.

While planning and building the new expansion the goal was to balance energy efficiency, patient comfort, and a healthy work environment. Bahl said, “We are proud to deliver on our promise of a green building as part of our pledge to provide enhanced care and a state-of-the-art work environment.” By building the expansion by LEED certifications, they were able to achieve the sustainable and comfortable environment they aimed for.

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“This is a totally radical way of building a health care environment,” said Kristin Moore, director of health care for DIRTT. “It’s been really exciting for us to see how quickly this has been embraced by the health care community.”

DIRTT began offering interior health care solutions after realizing the need for inherent flexibility in medical facilities. After surveying health care stakeholders, DIRTT found the need for flexibility was being expressed again and again. Technology, patient populations and health care models are constantly evolving and changing, Moore said, DIRTT wanted to create a solution that could change with health care easily and efficiently.

“[Health care] environments need to be flexible because facilities really don’t know what they’ll be delivering and who they’re going to be delivering it to,” Moore said.

The construction of the prefabricated modular walls also saves time and is cost efficient. While typical health care construction requires a linear process, DIRTT changes the process of conventional construction.

“Typically, when you look at a conventional construction project, we start with that shell. The very first thing we do is we start erecting steel studs for the drywall construction, and the challenge with that is now every trade has to work around those vertical impediments, so it’s not a very efficient process to say the least,” Moore said.

Linear construction is a long and drawn-out process that may run into several obstacles. The clean and unitized construction of DIRTT interiors is a major benefit to already occupied health care facilities that need construction to be unobtrusive and fast, Moore said.

“For health care facilities, they need to get their doors open to start generating revenue and start responding to their patient population,” she said. “If we can compress and compact that construction schedule that’s a big benefit for a health care facility.”

The horizontal detail of DIRTT solutions can also incorporate the specific needs of the health care setting. DIRTT walls can support anything from iPod docking stations to handrails to artwork. These details can be changed in or out depending on the needs of the facility and do not need to be screwed into the wall.

“We have a non-marring approach where that bracket detail supports it,” Moore said. “So over time, facilities do not have to come in and patch and repair where those elements used to be.”

DIRTT also concentrates on reducing material wastes. Using ICE software, DIRTT minimizes the amount of materials brought into construction and reuses materials in the interior to be as clean and sustainable as possible. The highly sustainable design technology also identifies which elements of DIRTT interiors can be reused in future renovations.

“Instead of creating waste and, at best, diverting waste, we just don’t create waste in the first place,” Moore said.

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Announced as preferred bidder in January 2014, the public-private partnership (P3) project includes the design, construction, financing and facilities management for a new children’s and women’s acute care center in Vancouver. The second phase is part of a three-phase project that will build the new Teck Acute Care Centre and renovate existing facilities at BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre.

The project’s second phase includes the construction of a neonatal intensive care unit, pediatric intensive care unit, high-risk birthing rooms, medical imaging and procedural suites, a new emergency department, inpatient units, and clinical and education and research space.

“This is a landmark project for Balfour Beatty, our first large health care project in Canada, which establishes our local presence. We are delighted to be working with the Provincial Health Services Authority to deliver and manage this world-class acute care center,” said Andrew McNaughton, Balfour Beatty CEO, in a statement.

Construction services will be delivered through a 50:50 joint venture between Balfour Beatty Construction and Ledcor Group, headquartered in Vancouver. Additionally, Balfour Beatty Communities and Black & McDonald Limited will participate in a 50:50 joint venture to deliver facilities management services over the 30-year concession period, according to Balfour Beatty.

"We are extremely pleased to join with Affinity Partnerships in committing to build the new Teck Acute Care Centre and operate it for the next 30 years," said Scott Lyons, President, Ledcor Special Projects, in a statement. "BC Children’s is known the world over as a leader in children’s health care and its redevelopment is an exciting project for Ledcor, for Vancouver and for British Columbia."

Construction on Phase 2 will begin immediately, according to Balfour Beatty. The project, which totals $680 million, is expected to be completed in June 2017.

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Based on a master plan developed by Toronto-based Urban Strategies, the project was designed and constructed by Stantec Architecture/KPMB Architects, which served as the Planning, Design and Compliance Architects, and HDR Architecture/Diamond Schmitt Architects, the Architects of Record.

The project was designed using the same concept of the recently opened Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. It provides an ideal rehabilitative environment by incorporating the community and giving patients access to nature. The community was especially involved with the Bridgepoint project because of the renovation of the adjacent pre-Confederation Don Jail, which will serve as the hospital’s administrative offices.

The 464-bed hospital is a replacement facility that was necessary for Bridgepoint to increase acuity for patients. The previous hospital had about 550 square feet per patient, according to Stuart Elgie, principal at Stantec Architecture. “General standards would say that hospitals in that area would have about 1,100 square feet per patient, and the facilities were not near current standards,” Elgie said.

The hospital is situated right on the edge of the Don Valley. “The hospital was very keen on staying on that site,” Elgie said. “Properly connecting to that site was really important to their patients and where they wanted to take health care delivery.”

The design incorporated a park that spills into the hospital, inviting the community inside and giving patients a connection to both nature and the outside world. “It’s all about getting [the patients] back into the community and back into their homes and normalizing life for them,” Elgie said.

“There’s lots of proven documentation that people get better when they have natural light and nature. With that brings generally more positive patient outcomes,” he said. “That connection to landscape and nature was the single biggest design objective that our project met.”

The therapy pool on the north end of the hospital, for instance, is nestled within this public park, with lots of glass opening into the park. Above the pool is a therapeutic labyrinth, which accommodates the hospital’s idea of graduated rehabilitation to provide different levels access to nature. On the 10th floor, patients can see views of Ontario and the downtown core. “Ultimately, it’s about providing a sense of normalcy and doing it in a way that helps support patients that desire to get better,” Elgie said.

For patients that are not able to leave their room, the natural setting is also brought into each individual room by allowing patients to have unobstructed views from their window.

The major challenges on the project involved the site because it was a very tight space that required efficient planning for a tight building envelope. Plus, with the restoration of the Don Jail and the project’s involvement in the community, there were several municipal approvals needed that took an extensive amount of time.

While the hospital is operational, there are still significant processes underway. The old hospital needs to be demolished and the Toronto jail, also on the site, has to be demolished. There are still extensive site works that need to be completed. That work should be done in about a year, Elgie said.
 

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