Oak Valley Health: Addressing changing community needs with hospital expansion
Overview
Oak Valley Health is expanding with the construction of a new, modernized hospital in Uxbridge, Ontario. The new facility will add more patient beds and expand key services, such as ambulatory care and diagnostic imaging – making it easier for families to continue receiving high-quality care, close to home.
The new Uxbridge Hospital will be built on existing land and will replace the current facility that was constructed in 1959 and provides diagnostic and emergency services to over 23,000 patients per year.
The rebuild is necessary because the region’s population has grown significantly and is expected to double by 2051.Once complete, the new hospital will have| 31 beds – a 55% increase in capacity over the current site.
Procurement Benefits
3D Photo rendering of new expansion.
The Challenge
This is a significant project for the community that will take up to five years to complete at a cost in excess of $200 million.
To ensure the new campus is well equipped to support the present and future needs of the community, MMC was tasked with selecting a prime consultant team that could demonstrate how they would consult with both internal and external stakeholders to tailor the project to the needs of the diverse community. As such, the prospective teams were asked to explain how they would design spaces to appeal to all communities who might be using and funding the hospital. That included describing how the space would be both esthetically pleasing as well as clinically efficient and functional.
“For a project of this scale, it was key that we didn’t lose sight of what needs this hospital has to meet,” said Raechel Griffin, VP, Capital, Nutrition and FF&E at Mohawk Medbuy. “We put a strong focus on finding an architecture team that would work with the community at every stage.”
The Outcome
MMC employed a qualification-based approach to selecting the right architectural team. The strategy was supported by a working group possessing specific expertise in capital planning, clinical programming and clinical planning, along with frontline experience from nurses and hospital administrators.
The working group considered the architecture firm’s ability to achieve the project goals of quality, sustainability, flexibility and a technologically-advanced and patient-centered facility – one that enabled health care providers to best serve the patient.
Ultimately, there was a unanimous decision to select Diamond Schmitt Architects, based on a combined weighted score of the above factors and the proposed fees. The final score provided a balance between quality of proposal, team experience and price.
“The redevelopment of the Uxbridge Hospital will support modernized care that meets the needs of the growing community,” said Hoda Kayal, Capital Planning and Development at Oak Valley Health. “It was important to us that the project is aligned with Oak Valley Health’s vision for the future as well as the values of the community at every stage, including in the choice of an architectural team.”