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June 2014

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James Beach Health Care Centre – Queensway Carleton Hospital by Peter Caulfield photos courtesy queensway carleton hospital T he Queensway Carleton Hospital (QCH) recently celebrated the official opening of the James Beach Health Care Centre, a new four-storey tower on the western edge of the hospital's campus. The centre is the third and most recent part of almost 15 years of steady expansion and renovations to the 38-year-old Ottawa hospital. "The $126-million Phase 3 expansion created more than 140,000 square feet of additional space," says Peter Thompson, hospital director of planning and development. QCH sits on 50 acres of land on the edge of Ottawa's National Capital Greenbelt. The hospital, which provides a broad range of acute care services, has 264 beds and employs more than 1,800 health care professionals. The James Beach Health Care Centre provides ambulatory services for almost 40,000 annual outpatients in physiotherapy, occupational therapy, clinical and medical day treatments, dialysis, examinations and minor procedures. Thompson says the redevelopment of QCH has taken place in three parts, with more to come. The most recent development, the James Beach Health Care Centre, has many parts. They include 10 new operating rooms with new pre- and post-operative care areas; expanded ambulatory care and rehabilitation; new infrastructure that includes six new air handing units, seven new boilers, new medical, plant and lab air and vacuum systems; new infor- mation technology (IT) infrastructure, including wireless capability; a new 15-station dialysis area that can serve 100 patients; a new endoscopy, cystoscopy and minor surgery suite; and a new and expanded pharmacy. The next part of the ongoing expansion is the Acute Care for the Elderly ( ACE) unit. QCH has received approval from the Ontario government to complete a $10-million, 25,000-square-foot shelled floor to create 34 replacement inpatient medical-surgical beds. Parkin Architects Ltd. has been the architect in the hos- pital's three major capital projects and is about to begin the fourth. Robert Boraks, principal with Parkin Architects, calls LOCATION 3045 Baseline Road, Ottawa, Ontario OwNer/DeveLOper Queensway Carleton Hospital ArChITeCT Parkin Architects Limited GeNerAL CONTrACTOr Carillion Canada STruCTurAL CONSuLTANT Adjeleian Allen Rubeli Ltd. MeChANICAL/ eLeCTrICAL CONSuLTANT Vanderwesten Rutherford Mantecon, Inc. LANDSCApe ArChITeCT CSW Landscape Architects Limited TOTAL AreA 140,000 square feet TOTAL COST $126 million the QCH expansion "an ongoing evolution," and one that is complex and full of challenges. "When the hospital was built, it was a community hospital on the outskirts of Ottawa," he says. "But, since then, the city has grown and the hospital is now at the epicentre of Ottawa's growth. QCH now has the busiest emergency department in the city." Although the hospital is just outside downtown Ottawa and located in the city's Greenbelt, it had to be built in accor- dance with strict environmental requirements. "When the hospital was built, it was like a pavilion in a garden, sur- rounded by trees, fields, flowers and grass," Boraks says. "It's still like that." Work on the Centre was completed in 37 different phases. "It was like musical chairs," Boraks says. "It took months of careful pre-planning. In addition, the work had to be done with great delicacy. We're dealing with people's lives." He adds, "Everybody on the team needed to work collabor- atively during all of the project's phases, especially construc- tion, and work closely with hospital staff and the contractor. Unfortunately, there are no courses you can take in delicacy. It's something you have to learn on the job." Despite its many challenges and complexities, the project was a great success. "The project was a unique collaboration, with everybody working closely and efficiently," Boraks says. "The proof is that there were very few change orders." Sharon Barr, senior engineer with Vanderwesten Ruth- erford Mantecon, Inc., which provided mechanical and electrical engineering design services on the project, says the company's greatest challenge was the integration of the new design and services with the existing infrastructure. "Improving energy efficiency and providing the necessary levels of redundancy for an acute care facility was another challenge," explains Barr. The renovation phase of the project presented other challenges. "We needed to ensure patient care areas next to construction areas remained operational," Barr adds. "To do that required many creative solutions, as well as the flexibility and cooperation of all parties in the project." Another challenge, says Michael D'Costa, associate structural engineer with consulting engineers Adjeleian A llen Rubeli Ltd., was t hat t he hospital's program requirements had to be accommodated with the new building's structural needs. "For exam- ple, there were many varying bay sizes and off-grid columns," D'Costa says. "And because of the hospital's location in Ottawa, the project had significant post- disaster seismic requirements, such as for the reinforced concrete shearwalls in the main wing." He concludes that despite its many complexities, the project was a good one that worked out well. n Queensway Carleton Hospital 102/ june 2014 p.102-103Queensway Hospital.indd 102 14-06-03 10:46 AM

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