New Health-Care Complex (Contact / Media Information)
Project Philosophy:
New health complex a catalyst for transforming healthcare across Niagara
Aristotle once said; the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
This same philosophy is embraced by the Niagara Health System (NHS), which is not only planning a state-of-the-art health-care complex, but is taking advantage of the opportunity to examine how infrastructure and services at all seven of its sites can be enhanced to deliver the best possible care to all of Niagara's 434,000 residents.
"At NHS, capital planning is not only about building infrastructure. It's about transforming how care is delivered across all of our sites," says Debbie Sevenpifer, President and CEO of the NHS, Ontario's largest multi-site hospital amalgamation.
The new 375-bed community hospital will replace the aging St. Catharines General and Ontario Street sites; serving St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara-on-the-Lake and surrounding communities with a full range of acute/critical, surgical, emergency and ambulatory services. NHS also operates hospital sites in Fort Erie, Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Port Colborne and Welland.
The building will house new regional services that have not existed in Niagara, causing patients to travel to Hamilton or beyond for specialized care. This includes facilities to support two cardiac catheterization labs, 53 longer-term mental health beds and comprehensive cancer care services to be provided at the Walker Family Cancer Centre.
"Building a brand new, state-of-the-art hospital is an opportunity for us to improve service delivery and accommodate new health-care trends across the board," says Clinical Project Manager Marilyn Bellows.
"In preparing for the new facility, we're analyzing how best-practice and workflow analysis can be implemented across all programs and sites, not just for the new building," adds Redevelopment and Clinical Planning Coordinator Maria Vuono. "For example, a workflow analysis project is currently underway in two of our EDs that has already made recommendations on influencing the way we deliver care and which will be implemented in the coming months."
Some of the other preparations have included the implementation of PACs (picture archiving and communication systems) technology, the ground work for the organization to adopt an 80 per cent paperless record management system, as well as automated medication dispensing at all acute care sites.
"These preparations are critical prerequisites across all sites to ensure successful transition into the new facility," adds Bellows.
To sustain the delivery of current health-care services and provide new programs throughout the region, infrastructure and equipment improvements at other NHS hospital sites were also deemed urgently needed.
This big-picture view led to the creation of the It's Our Time Campaign and the Niagara Health System Foundation (NHSF). Working in partnership with each of the local NHS hospital foundations, NHSF coordinates and manages the first region-wide health-care fundraising campaign.
The campaign is structured into three teams of volunteers with a cumulative $40 million goal to make improvements at NHS sites and aid in the construction of the new building. This includes the new community hospital and facilities to support the three new regional programs to provide treatment to patients with cancer, heart and mental health disease. The site will also act as the hub of regional dialysis services, to be supported by permanent dialysis units being constructed in Welland and Niagara Falls.
"The NHS is committed to making continued improvements to the quality of care for everyone living in Niagara," says Sevenpifer. "Planning for this health-care complex has also provided us with an opportunity to invest in our other hospital sites, improving the facilities and purchasing new equipment for cancer care, emergency care and other services."
The new health-care complex is currently one of the largest infrastructure projects in Ontario. It is also the first new hospital to be constructed as a Design, Build, Finance and Maintain (DBFM) project in partnership with Infrastructure Ontario, under the Provincial government's new Alternative Financing Procurement (AFP) delivery model.
"What this means is that the winning bidder will be responsible for designing the facility, constructing the facility, arranging financing for its construction and maintaining the hard facilities of the health-care complex over a 30-year period," explains Chief Planning and Development Officer Gloria Kain.
Hard facilities maintenance relates to the maintenance of equipment that helps the physical building to operate. This equipment includes elevators, HVAC systems and other functions related to the building's structure.
Planning for the new facility has brought together an unprecedented team of professionals, physicians and staff. Groundbreaking for construction is scheduled to occur in fall 2008. Dependent on the winning bidder's schedule, substantial construction completion is expected in late 2012.
"Building a brand new hospital is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and it has taught us more than we ever thought about best practices in service delivery, innovation, technology, and building design," adds Kain. "This project has influenced and transformed the way healthcare is delivered across all of Niagara. At NHS, the whole is definitely more than just the sum of its parts."