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 This
is an exciting time at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences
Centre (TBRHSC). With our partners from the Northern Ontario
School of Medicine (NOSM), we are transforming from a community
based hospital to a patient-centered, clinical and academic
centre of excellence, supporting teaching and research. On
Monday, June 22, 2009, we will celebrate these organizational
changes.
A $6 Million Capital Building investment from the Ministry
of Health and Long Term Care has also supported the integration
of the needs of our Local Health Integration Network (LHIN)
and regional demographic profile. Seventy percent of the recent
graduates of NOSM were matched to a local Family Practice
Residency Program with the remaining graduates entering into
a variety of specialty Residencies, both here at NOSM and
in various residency programs around the country. This will
support the recruitment and retention of physicians as it
has been demonstrated that those who train in the North remain
in the North.
The project began by reviewing a floor plan of TBRHSC and
examining opportunities for growth. The primary goal was to
integrate the needs of the organization and the Medical School
while ensuring the medical learners were close to their patients
and preceptors. The process included moving several services
such as Finance, Human Resources and our Regional Stroke Program
to an adjacent Medical Centre, the development of additional
call-rooms, classroom and lounge facilities, and the movement
and expansion of Medical Affairs and the medical/privileged
staff lounges to accommodate the growing expansion of medical
and academic needs in keeping with the organizational strategic
plan supporting teaching and research.
The design approach involved bringing teams of end-users,
representing a variety of services, professionals and community
stakeholders together to collaboratively achieve this integration.
Each stage of construction was reviewed by its end-users,
for input and feedback. The Design Project Team was lead by
the Corporate Services leadership team at TBRHSC and included
Scott Potts, VP Corporate and Financial Services; Nella Lawrence,
Project Planner; and Amy Johnson, Program Planner. The design
team was supported by the services of the architectural firm
of Kuch, Stephenson, Gibson and Malo Architects and Engineers,
and Tom Jones Construction along with all the identified end-users.
For each specific area, the planning process included focus
groups which identified the:
- Project Goals and Objectives - What did we want to
achieve?
- Feedback Circle including presentations to the end-users
- Was the project meeting the requirements of the end-users
During the review process, the Design team at times returned
to the drawing board to redesign areas to meet the requirements
of the end-users.
The IBM Report – Assessment of the Impact of the Northern
Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) Teaching on Northern Ontario
Hospitals (October, 2004) served as the foundation of this
project to meet classroom, on-call room and the square footage
consideration for change and locker room requirements. Special
consideration was given to the predicted ratio of male to
female learners and ensuring the design of adequate space
for locker and change room facilities which would meet the
gender demands of the learners. The Professional Association
of Interns and Residents of Ontario (PAIRO) contract and their
members served as the benchmarks for ensuring adequate design
and numbers of on-call room facilities for the learners. We
successfully exceeded the required 13 on-call facilities to
a total 17 on-call rooms. All of the on-call rooms have computer
data drops, desks, lighting, alarm clocks and upgraded security
features, supporting the comfort level for the learner. This
project meets all building codes and accessibility requirements.
Everyone from the housekeepers, front-line staff, physicians,
learners, Senior Administration, community stakeholders and
the NOSM were engaged in this process to achieve our outstanding
results.
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