The design of the Hamilton General Hospital’s Emergency Department involved a complex, phased healthcare renovation within its high-stakes, fast-paced, critical healthcare environment.

When Hamilton Health Sciences began to relocate adult services from the McMaster University Medical Centre to the Hamilton General Hospital site, it triggered the need for the renovation. Our first priority was to establish a thoughtful master plan. We worked closely with administration, doctors, nurses, diagnostic imaging and finance departments to understand and balance diverse functional requirements.

Our master plan laid out phasing strategy. As a result, the Emergency Department to remain open and fully functional throughout construction.

In the first phase, we expanded the resuscitation and trauma areas. Both are designated as 1 and 2 on the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale. These are critical environments that must support immediate triage care. Additional areas including the admitting and pharmacy, fit up and operating rooms.

This project established the groundwork  of a thoughtful  transition, one that advanced the hospital’s long-term vision for the site.

• We successfully developed a complex and multi-phased project that allowed the emergency department to remain operational throughout the renovation process.
  
• We found a unique solution that allowed the facility to handle more patients should there be a large-scale emergency, with a flexible design for its bays that could accommodate more than one bed at a time if needed.
  

• Our team provided a successful, integrated design that carefully balances the diverse needs of the hospital's many stakeholders, including its function as a teaching hospital.