A long-range expansion and modernization plan continues to take shape at The Ottawa Hospital (TOH). Keith Regan learns how a new Regional Cancer Center and a fully redeveloped Emergency Department are part of a larger plan to modernize and expand services.
The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) has been recognized as a leader in the Academic Health Care System. With a focus on innovation and quality of care, TOH has invested heavily in a program to expand and modernize its physical facilities incorporating the latest standards for medical technology and patient comfort.
The hospital is one of the busiest in Canada, servicing more than 125,000 emergency department patient visits, 6,800 births, 34,000 surgeries and 46,000 patient admissions during 2009, while bringing in more than $50 million in external research funding and training almost 2,000 nurses and more than 1,000 medical students, residents and fellows.
Building the bricks and mortar to support that level of work in an environment that allows for maximum efficiency and the most modern techniques both in delivery of care and handling of administrative responsibilities has been the mission of the hospital’s planning and facilities department since TOH was formed through the merger of four hospitals in 1998.
Over the last decade, TOH has implemented approximately $850 million of development across its three campuses. In the final phases of the current 10-year development strategy, TOH will be completing in December 2010 a $175 million expansion of its Regional Cancer Center.
According to Cameron Love, vice president, planning support services and clinical programs at TOH, the Regional Cancer Center project is an innovative operational and development model that includes the expansion of the base center at the General Campus of TOH and the development of a satellite site at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital, a local community hospital. “It will be a fully integrated, state-of-the-art Cancer Center program, with multiple treatment delivery sites integrated with a comprehensive academic education and research program,” Love says.
In addition, a $20 million Emergency Department project is under way, and the hospital recently opened one of the largest specialty medical education facilities in Canada, a 20,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Skills and Simulation Center.
The patient-focused investment is being matched with extensive work to expand the hospital’s research capabilities, including a $25 million Clinical Epidemiology Center to be completed in fall 2011, an $8 million Vision Research Center expansion project to be completed in winter 2011, and a $12 million Cancer Research Center to be completed in November 2010.
Shepherding the development plans and implementation is the hospital’s planning team, which Love heads up and which includes project managers who work closely with clinical experts during the design and construction phases. “There is a lot of emphasis being placed on replacing and updating older equipment and infrastructure and making sure we’re employing the latest technology wherever possible,” says Love. On the cancer center alone, for instance, a team of 80 healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses and technicians, was consulted as the facility was designed. The result is a state-of-the-art facility with new technology and equipment, such as the new Tomotherapy and Cyberknife suites, which provide warm, compassionate systemic and radiation treatment environments for patients to receive the best possible quality of care.
“Compared to what the current facilities have to offer,” says Love, “the end result is a dramatically improved patient care environment incorporating comforting finishes and features built around a new care delivery model based on new clinical standards.
“Everything we’re doing is strictly focused around creating state-of-the-art but comforting environments for our patients,” he adds. “Infection control and safety features of the new environments are being dramatically improved, and it’s all being done around new designs that allow for better flow and better outcomes.”
The funding for these projects comes from the Provincial Government and the community, through Foundation fundraising events. The Ottawa community has been extremely supportive of TOH’s development plans, with the first campaign raising over $100 million and the second campaign well under way with a target to raise an additional $60 million.
While not seeking LEED certification, the projects implemented to date have incorporated elements of LEED criteria. However, TOH has developed and implemented an Energy Management/Greening plan over the last five years. The backbone to this plan was an $18 million energy management project with Honeywell, which included updating the campuses with more efficient lighting, heating and cooling controls and infrastructure, and improvements to the water management system. The project achieved utilities savings of approximately $2.7 million annually through a dramatic decrease in natural gas and electricity consumption. In addition, TOH has implemented a variety of waste management projects including a comprehensive recycling program and the installation of hydroclaves to more effectively manage medical waste.
As new projects come on board, TOH moves closer to a paperless medical environment as well. Working with partners such as Oracle and IBM, the organization is moving aggressively toward electronic medical records across the hospital.
Looking forward, TOH has developed a new 2020/21 Master Plan, which includes the development of a new Civic Campus, Maternal Newborn Center, Specialized Rehab Center, Cardiac Center and an expanded freestanding Ambulatory Care Center. The planning is in the early stages of programming and design, and it will take several years to move through the planning process.
“The end result will be a stronger healthcare delivery system for our patients,” notes Love. “A lot of planning and attention to detail has gone into making sure that we arrive at that outcome.” www.ottawahospital.on.ca
