KDH redevelopment 64 per cent complete
Posted Feb 18, 2010 By Ashley Kulp
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Ashley Kulp, Kemptville EMC
The exterior of the Kemptville District Hospital redevelopment is progressing on schedule. It will feature three distinctly outlined entrances: ambulance, emergency and the main entrance area, which can be seen to the far right.
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Keith Sharland, left, project superintendent with Vanbots Construction, provided the EMC and Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) CEO Colin Goodfellow, right, with a tour of the KDH expansion on Feb. 12. In this photo, Sharland reiterates the importance of safety just before guiding tour participants out onto the second-floor terrace of the $24 million, 38,000 square foot project. The addition will link up to the current hospital and feature an all-new emergency department and three spacious operating rooms.
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Ashley Kulp, Kemptville EMC
The concrete and steel awning which will be used by emergency vehicles. This area will serve as the entrance for ambulances and the emergency department.
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Ashley Kulp, Kemptville EMC
KDH CEO Colin Goodfellow and redevelopment project coordinator Tracey Howarth admire the largest of three operating rooms during a Feb. 12 tour of the hospital addition.
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Ashley Kulp, Kemptville EMC
Above, what will soon become the main entrance of the hospital.
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EMC News - With about 64 per cent of the construction of the redevelopment of Kemptville District Hospital (KDH) complete, the project is right on schedule for a move-in date of this July.
Vanbots Construction project superintendent Keith Sharland points out the main wiring for the new nurses station in the KDH expansion.
On Feb. 12, the EMC had an early opportunity to tour the expansion along with KDH CEO Colin Goodfellow (who was seeing the construction progress for the first time), and led by Vanbots Construction project superintendent Keith Sharland and redevelopment project coordinator Tracey Howarth. The approximately $24 million, 38,000 square foot addition features three-storeys, but the tour only encompassed the first two floors (the third floor is reserved for mechanical and electrical systems).
"We're aiming for the summer (opening)," Howarth noted. "We hope to be fully operational by July as long as we maintain the current schedule."
The exterior of the addition is unique, featuring panes of glass and brickwork. The glass allows the natural light to shine throughout the entire two floors of the expansion, creating a more comforting atmosphere. "We are taking advantage of that (natural light)," said Howarth.
Three distinctive entrances (main, ambulance and emergency) have been added to eliminate confusion of the public and a steel overhang allows emergency vehicles to pull right up to the hospital. Increased parking space has also been allotted.
Once inside, it's clear that a lot of time has been spent on ensuring the area has the proper flow and allows hospital staff to see what's going on at all times. "At the main nursing station off of emergency department, there's clear vision into the majority of the patient treatment rooms," explained Howarth.
Care has been taken in the emergency department to ensure accessibility as well, Howarth stated. "It's accessible to all patients and if needed, people can wheel right up to the desk area. It's nicer because staff can interact better with the patients," she commented. "Infection control measures will also be in place."
As the tour progresses past the emergency area and waiting room, wider hallways will allow staff to move more freely into the new diagnostic imaging department, ultrasound and mammography area, which the KDH Foundation is currently fundraising to furnish. In terms of diagnostic imaging, Howarth noted that there will be the same number of rooms in the new part of the hospital as was in the older wing, but the new rooms will be "more spacious and have state-of-the-art equipment."
"We're starting to shove the wiring into the wall in this department," added Sharland.
The natural light continues to pour in throughout the first-floor of the addition and a glassed-in portion will also look out onto the hospital's courtyard, where staff, patients and visitors can enjoy the great outdoors.
A new staircase and elevator will take individuals up to the second floor, where the hospital's main surgical suites will now be housed. The glass façade continues upstairs in the pre and post-op areas, which can be expanded based on the hospital's needs. "There are two areas we can put extra beds if volumes increase," Howarth explained.
Traveling down the hall, the next stop is at the three new operating rooms, the last of which, at 610 square feet, is bigger than both of the hospital's current operating rooms combined. "We will have five altogether if we keep all of them running," Howarth stated, adding that more space in the operating rooms will allow for more orthopedic surgeries to be done. "It enables us to do a lot more surgeries, different surgeries."
Upon seeing the operating rooms for the first time, Goodfellow was impressed with how they had been planned out. "They are so much better organized than what we have here now," he remarked.
Down the hall from the operating rooms is office space as well as the central sterilization resource (CSR) area, where decontamination takes place, as well as the cleaning of instruments and packaging and preparation of equipment for the next surgeries.
As we round the corner back into the pre and post-op area, there is an area just off the corridor which will link the existing building to the addition. Here, Howarth explained, a fireplace will be installed and a seating area will be made available to patients, staff and visitors.
One of the most interesting features, which didn't exactly fit into the original design, is a second-floor terrace area, where 60 people can be seated and it can be used for hospital functions or simply as a meeting place.
"It was originally just a roof, but we thought, 'Why don't we make use of this space?'" Howarth noted.
As the tour wraps up, Goodfellow can't say enough good things about the Vanbots crew, which has kept the project on budget and on time. Their commitment to safety is one of the main reasons he hadn't seen the expansion's progress until now. "This is a contractor who is committed to the schedule and these guys are getting things done. The best thing we can do is stay out of the way," he commented.
Sharland stressed that there are a lot of workers on the hospital site and the cooperation of everyone has been key to sticking to the schedule. "It takes a lot, but we're all doing this together to get things done," he said, adding that inspectors are regularly onsite to conduct safety inspections.
Sharland also hoped that as of this past Tuesday, the glass façade on the main floor would be completely installed, which would make a dramatic change to the look of the project.
In the future and once the next initiative for KDH is completed (the supportive housing project), Howarth indicated that the hospital, KDH health clinic and supportive housing could be known as the Kemptville Health Services Complex.
To stay informed on the progress of the KDH redevelopment, please visit www.kdh.on.ca and click on the 'capital redevelopment project' link.
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