VANCOUVER — The BC Children’s Hospital & BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre recently completed the new Teck Acute Care Centre in Vancouver. The new acute care center opened in November 2017, and stands out in the healthcare realm for its colorful, geographically based graphics designed to heal and create a warm environment for its patients.

The eight story, 640,000-square-foot building had a budget of $340 million, and was designed by ZGF Architects out of its Seattle office. Balfour Beatty Construction — headquartered in Dallas — was the general contractor on the project. The building is projected to earn LEED Gold certification in the near future.

The new facility includes an emergency department, imaging and procedural suites, hematology and oncology departments, a high-risk birthing suite, neonatal intensive care units and a pediatric intensive care unit.

ZGF interviewed hundreds of children, parents, staff and other stakeholders early on in the process. The results of their research efforts led to the use of “regional cues” in the new acute care center, such as animals and topography in the graphics to help provide context for children staying for extended periods of time. In addition, it was the hope of the design team that familiar imagery would evoke a sense of home and healing for patients.

Another intention of the use of regional cues was chosen by ZGF to promote “biophilia,” — a term which means the promotion of healing by drawing connections to nature — according to a recent statement. Finally, the colorful and distinctive imagery creates improved wayfinding and stress-reduction for patients as well as visitors and staff.

In addition to the colorful and warm graphics of the interior, there are patient and staff-accessible gardens on levels five, six and eight that are intended to emphasize calmness and contemplation to enhance the healing process for patients.

In addition, acoustical treatments of the facility minimize noise disturbance. Public spaces feature natural wood elements to add warmth and make patients and their families feel more at home. The facility uses abundant natural light and glare-minimizing, energy-efficient LED lighting elements to create a more restorative environment for patients and their families.

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Edison invites the public to submit ideas through its confidential portal at www.EdisonNationMedical.com/waste through Oct. 24.

Hospitals are one of the largest generators of hazardous waste, defined as waste that poses substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. The majority of materials procured by a hospital ultimately become waste, resulting in nearly 7,000 tons of waste every day and $10 billion annually in disposal costs across the health care industry, according to Edison. Special waste is also an area that is seeing an increase within the emerging cannabis industry – there may even be an overlap with health care waste where medical marijuana is concerned. Businesses within this industry should learn the methods of properly getting rid of hemp biomass as part of their waste management responsibilities. This is particularly important as this special waste could pose a public health and safety risk, especially to children and animals that might ingest discarded products.

“Hazardous waste disposal is a complicated and costly compliance challenge to health care organizations,” said Robert Grajewski, president of Edison Nation Medical, in a statement. “We believe there is a significant opportunity to introduce innovative new equipment, containers, devices and educational signage that will standardize proper hazardous waste disposal practices across the industry and, thus, make smart choices as easy as possible for busy health care workers.”

Edison suggests inventors consider a cost-saving opportunity through the proper allocation of red bag versus municipal solid waste (MSW), which is commonly known as trash or garbage that contains everyday items. Medical waste that requires proper red-bag disposal includes liquid or semi-liquid blood or other potentially infectious materials; contaminated items that would release blood or other potentially infectious materials in a liquid or semi-liquid state if compressed; items that are caked with dried blood or other potentially infectious materials and are capable of releasing these materials during handling; contaminated sharps; and pathological and microbiological wastes containing blood or other potentially infectious materials.

Many hospitals routinely throw 50 percent to 70 percent of the waste into the bio-hazardous waste stream even though most of the waste is similar to that of an office building. In situations like this, hiring a skip similar to those found at West Auckland Rubbish Removal might be a good choice. Only about 2 percent to 3 percent of hospital waste actually needs to be classified as hazardous. Improper waste identification can be costly – red-bag waste costs up to 10 times more for disposal than municipal solid waste and up to 30 times more than recycling.

Edison also suggests ideas that can encourage or facilitate recycling. The average cost to dispose of MSW is about $250 to $300 per bed, and the average 500-bed hospital will spend $150,000 annually on MSW contracts. Between 25 percent and 30 percent of MSW contains materials that could have been recycled.
There is a wide range of other hazardous waste to consider, Edison notes, including chemical waste, construction and demolition debris, pathological waste, pharmaceutical waste, laboratory reagent waste, radioactive waste, recyclables, solid waste and waste water.

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