Mackenzie Vaughan designs test-run of the smart hospital (canhealth.com)

Canhealth.com
Neil Zeidenberg
Jan. 10, 2018

Media were invited to tour the new Mackenzie Vaughan hospital currently under construction just north of Toronto. The 350-bed smart hospital will comprise 1.2 million sq. ft. and is scheduled to open in 2020, with potential for future expansion to as many as 550 beds.

A mock site was constructed nearby for planning purposes, ensuring every detail was considered well in advance. Feedback regarding room design and flow was provided by physicians, nurses and support staff, volunteers – as well as patients and their families. “We really wanted to hear from all sides. It was designed through the eyes of the patient,” said Kristine Jarvi (pictured), executive director, transformation.

Some of the highlights include:

- ER exam rooms with wide doorways and actual doors for better privacy and security, as well as better placement of patient beds and equipment. Since Mackenzie Vaughan is being designed as a smart hospital, there are no paper charts. Patient data is keyed in at the bedside and updated in real-time. All rooms feature a specialized headwall where any type of equipment can be easily connected.

- OR theatres feature high ceilings with booms for mounting surgical equipment, and an interior supply cabinet for quick and easy access to clean linens and supplies. One unique feature is the separate entry/exit doors. “A patient who has just completed surgery will never cross paths with a patient about to have surgery,” said Jarvi. “After surgery, doors at the back of the room will open and the patient is wheeled out.” A nurse console at the back of the room controls lighting and audio-visual, and various monitors provide metrics of every kind of patient data.

- Critical care and acute care rooms feature large windows, high ceilings with mounted booms, wide doorways with privacy screen, as well as a three-seat sofa which turns into a bed for use by the patient’s family. There’s also a specialized headwall for easy connection to medical and surgical equipment, and a large supply cabinet with clean linens reducing footsteps to each patient’s bed. A smart screen is available for making outbound calls, ordering food or viewing patient charts.

- Labour-birthing/recovery and post-partum rooms feature a nurse charting alcove near the entrance, allowing nurses to closely monitor their patients, and document their care.

- Staff scrubs are embedded with RFID tags so their whereabouts are easily accessible and there’s a record of who goes in and out of patient rooms.

- Real-time tracking of staff and medical device (RFID) location allow for quick response in the event of medical emergency and to manage equipment more effectively.

The theme at Mackenzie Health is “World-Class Care Happens Here – Every Patient, Every Time.” The existing hospital site recently launched Canada’s first End-to-End Epic EMR, giving physicians’ the information they need to make the best decisions about their patient’s care. The successful EMR implementation led Mackenzie Health to be recognized by HIMSS Analytics for achieving stage 6 on the HIMSS EMRAM scale – a level reached by only 1 percent of hospitals in Canada.