New HSC Women’s Hospital almost complete
Hospital is scheduled to open in 2019
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This article was published 18/12/2017 (2879 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Winnipeg is almost ready to welcome the most significant capital health project in the province’s history.
On Dec. 6, media outlets were invited to tour the new Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg Women’s Hospital located at 665 William Ave. The $232.9-million project has been in the works since 2008 when HSC held the first round of public consultations and developed a pre-design of the facility.
Lynda Tjaden, the current regional and site program director for women’s health and genetics at Health Sciences Centre, said the building was designed according to the needs of the patients it serves. She said the services and excellence in clinical care aren’t going to change. Instead, they will be improved. At the Women’s Hospital, they provide obstetrical, gynecological and reproductive health services for women and their families.
“The space of the new hospital was created in a very thoughtful way to enhance that patient experience,” she added. “The perspective of patients and their families, the public and the community around Health Sciences Centre was critical from a planning perspective.”
One improvement identified during the consultation process was having private spaces for the patient and their families. The second area of development will be in patient safety and flow. The new hospital will have a larger triage area to accommodate women in all stages of labour. Subsequently, because this building is almost five times larger than the existing one, the staff will have decentralized workstations that will keep health care professionals closer to patients.
Another critical improvement will happen in increasing interprofessional learning opportunities.
“One of the key roles for both our hospitals is to support new learners in health care. So that might be new nurses and social workers, and physicians. The new hospital was designed with some special features to enhance that learning and in particular to have opportunities where learners from different disciplines can be together,” Tjaden said.
In the ambulatory care area, for example, there’s a clinic space where a new physician goes in to assess a patient, and the instructor can go in another room from which they may observe.
Since 388,000-square-foot facility has taken almost 10 years to complete, and health care continually changes according to Tjaden, their team continues to assess and consult with their patients to make sure their facility is up to date with the newest techniques and equipment.
“One of the most interesting things about health care is that it’s continually changing. It’s exciting because there are always new opportunities to improve the way that we provide services, to maybe reduce the amount of time that people have to in hospital,” she told The Times, adding they’ve changed the way staff operate since November of 2016. “We had a general sense of the amount of work that we had to do to prepare, but we also have continued to assess the services that we provide and looking at making any improvements or changes within our existing site to keep up with that before we move to the new hospital.”
Delay in hospital’s opening
The Health Sciences Centre Women’s Hospital was scheduled to be operating in 2016, however, there was a delay because of the collapse of shoring on Sherbrook Street and subsequent remediation work on the shoring and foundation in 2012.
In 2013, a fire in the Diagnostic Centre of Excellence (DCE) affected infrastructure that is shared with the new HSC Women’s, including a tunnel, skywalk, and physical plant services, the interdependence of infrastructure that supports and connects new developments on William Avenue to HSC’s main campus — specifically, the completion of a second central energy plant and the relocation and integration of utilities (electrical, sewer and water). In addition, the insolvency of one of the original electrical subcontractors delayed a significant portion of key electrical work.
Réal Cloutier, interim president and chief executive officer, said capital planning anticipates substantial completion of the project to occur in the fall of 2018 based on revised estimates from contractor EllisDon.
Once construction is officially complete, there will be a 12-month period to ensure the building is ready for occupancy by staff and patients. During this time, equipment will be installed, systems will be tested and staff will be trained within the new space. The project remains on budget and is expected to open to patients in the fall of 2019.
“The facility is being built to the exacting specifications required to provide safe patient care for women, babies and their families. While the revised timeframe is regrettable, it is necessary to deliver a completed project able to provide excellent patient care,” he said.