Anne-Marie Malek, West Park President and CEO, and Gloria Kain, Vice-President of Planning and Development, present at the Infrastructure Summit, an invitation only national conference for the health design industry.
Laying the groundwork for a successful Functional Program
West Park is receiving national interest in the outcome of its novel approach of undertaking an additional phase in the design of its new Patient Care Centre.
Last year, the hospital developed a comprehensive “toolkit” that serves as the guiding influence of West Park’s planning and design decisions for its new facilities.
“Architects, designers and planners in the health design world are following closely on what we’ve done, how we did it and how it will impact on the design of our new facilities,” says Gloria Kain, Vice-President of Planning and Development.
Kain and Anne-Marie Malek, West Park’s President and CEO, were recently invited to present the toolkit at the Infrastructure Summit, an invitation only, national conference for players in the health design field.
West Park has also been receiving accolades for the toolkit by industry peers and how it will give West Park a leg-up in its upcoming Functional Programming stage.
Inside the toolkit
The legacy of the toolkit is the development of “planning principles” supported by research and best practices. Five work streams were initiated to achieve the planning principles:
1. Benchmarking. West Park surveyed 11 rehabilitation hospitals in Canada and abroad to uncover the rationale for their design decisions. Topics included why they chose centralized or decentralized nursing/team stations, communal and private dining options for patients and location of staff lounges.
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Applying Lean methodology was one of five work streams used to uncover how West Park can improve in its new Patient Care Centre. Above, Senior Prosthetics and Orthotics technician Tiar Hollub is quietly being job shadowed by a consultant.
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2. Lean methodology. West Park employed LEAN methodology with staff in the Amputee service and staff involved with medication delivery to understand and improve the hospital’s efficiency.
3. Information, Communication and Technology. The hospital explored technologies that could be incorporated in the new facilities that would assist in delivering exemplary care.
4. Evidence Based Design. The best available research that links the design with improved patient outcomes was collected as a resource to inform the planning and design stage.
5. Gap Analysis. West Park identified changes in its programs and services and projected future workloads that would impact on the design of the new Patient Care Centre.
The results of the work streams were documented and used to develop planning principles, which will ultimately ensure West Park makes the right decisions for its world class healthcare facilities.
Sharing lessons learned
West Park will continue to share with peers its lessons learned and impact the toolkit will have on its upcoming Functional Programming for the capital project. A lunch and learn is planned for West Park staff in the upcoming months.