Countdown continues for move to Pavilion K
After five years of construction, it’s done! The JGH has been handed the keys to Pavilion K—a symbolic gesture that means the hospital now formally owns its newest wing. With patients set to move on Jan. 24, 2016, staff members are entering a phase of training and orientation.
“Although construction is over,” says Joanne Côté, Director of the Transition Team, “more than 22,000 pieces of equipment, furniture and supplies must be installed, and a couple of thousand more need to be moved in. We also want to set aside enough time to train and orient staff.”
Pavilion K saw its first department move in February 2014, when the first patients were treated in the new and extensively redesigned Emergency Department on level S2. As of January, a wide variety of other departments and services will move into the upper floors (see sidebar).
Clinical and support staff who expect to relocate to Pavilion K will train online, using floor plans that have been uploaded to a virtual platform. Staff in some departments are also learning how to handle new equipment and perform new procedures.
With the help of a volunteer, Clinical Nurse Specialists Denise Bédard of Surgery (left) and Malgorzata Karna of the Neurosciences team learn how to lift a patient with new equipment that is attached to the ceiling. The equipment will be used in patients’ rooms that will open in Pavilion K in January.
In September, members of staff will start coming to the site for exercises that simulate various scenarios, with the assistance of an external consultant. “Since so many units will interact with one another in Pavilion K, we need to test scenarios within specific units and among several units,” explains Annie Thinel, Clinical Coordinator for the Transition Team.
Emergency measures will also be simulated, because “the only way we’ll really be ready to move is if we’ve tested the new procedures, work organization and workflow,” adds Ms. Côté.
Once the simulations are done and the processes refined, all staff members who are scheduled to move will tour their new units, with the visits tailored to each employee’s specific needs.
Packing up for K
- the new Surgical Suite Services
- the Intensive Care Unit
- the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
- the Family Birthing Centre
- the Centre of Cardiovascular Sciences
- five in-patient units
- the Hemodialysis Laboratory
- Inhalation Therapy
- Transfusion Services
- the Medical Day Unit
- the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit
Ongoing community support critical for critical-care pavilion
Continued community support will be critical in outfitting the new surgical suites, hybrid operating rooms, intensive care units and patient rooms with the latest medical technology, equipment and furniture. Funding is also required for staff training and for the remaining construction costs related to Pavilion K.
This includes the acquisition of dedicated imaging equipment (such as a CT scanner, X-ray machine and ultrasound machines) and non-medical equipment (stretchers, furniture, treatment chairs, etc.), as well as information technology hardware and applications (such as fibre optics and specialized software for the operating rooms and imaging services). None of these is covered by government funding.
Funds will also be needed to acquire extra beds, equipment and furniture, so that private (one-bed) rooms can be converted to semi-private (two-bed) rooms during times of crisis, such as a large-scale flu outbreak, natural catastrophe or major accident.
With the move of the JGH’s Emergency and Critical Care services to Pavilion K, additional funds will also be needed to renovate and equip the vacated areas in the main hospital. This will allow existing services to be expanded or new services to be added.
For more information or to donate, please visit the JGH Foundation’s Pavilion K page or call 514-340-8251.
The rest of 2015 will be a busy time for the JGH, but the results will make it worthwhile, Ms. Côté says. “Pavilion K was designed with patients’ needs in mind. Everything has been taken into consideration, from new equipment to the design of the building, which includes single-patient rooms and paint colours that are pleasing to the elderly.”
For an inside look at at the latest developments, be sure to take a look at the Pavilion K photo gallery.
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