Moving House on a Massive Scale

Careful preparation will mean West Park employees can hit the ground running in the new hospital building

If you’ve ever moved into a new house, you know the process is exciting but also daunting. In addition to all the cleaning and unpacking, you have to get used to the space and figure out how to operate your new appliances.

“Moving into a new hospital is the same but magnified many times!” says Martha Harvey, West Park’s Director of Operational Readiness. “We have to get over 1,600 people ready, physically, mentally, psychologically and socially, to provide excellent care on day one. It’s a big task.”

West Park will take partial possession of the new building on July 31, and opening day of the new hospital will occur at the end of November. The move itself will happen over two weeks but to minimize stress and disruption, patients will all be moved in the course of one day. A specialized moving company will help orchestrate the operation. “It will be perfectly timed down to the minute,” says Harvey. “We expect it to be a smooth process.”

The new space will mean new equipment, technology, and workflows. For example, each floor will have a decentralized care model, with two inpatient pods and team sub-stations for each. In the outpatient area, many spaces will be shared, with clinics changing from day to day. In addition, there will be a number of “touch-down spaces,” a working area where a laptop can be plugged in.

Because the new hospital will be larger than the old one and spaces will be different, some workflows will have to change too. Given the larger size of the new building and services provided – such as dining rooms and therapy gyms on each floor – the movement of patients, equipment, supplies, etc. will require more organization from multiple stakeholders.

To prepare for all this, planning has been happening at the department, unit, and Centre level for the past few years. Regular communiques, town hall meetings, unit and department roadshows and other outreach activities have kept staff, patients and families in the loop.

Training is Essential

After July 31, day-in-the-life simulations will occur – opportunities to try out new equipment, technology and processes in the new space and work out any bugs before the move.

Training is a critical component of the preparations.“Orientation to the new space is important,” says Venita Indewey, Learning and Organization Development Partner. “People need to be able to move through their tasks smoothly because time is really precious – we don’t want people to spend time wondering where the supply cupboard is!” The design of the new hospital will also mean rethinking some protocols.

Employees will train in new equipment and technology. Says Indewey: “Some of the new technology may be more than a little bit different: people may be building whole new competencies. But just like we all got used to and now love our smart phones, I know we’ll adapt.

The training will include e-learning. Employees will also attend demonstrations by vendors and have a chance to try things out for themselves. It’s critical, Indewey says, that training doesn’t happen too long before the move, so that the new learning is top of mind. Videos of the demonstrations and other materials will be available if a refresher is needed. Tips from staff ‘super-users’ and ‘influencers’ will also be passed along to help sustain learning after the move.

“Training in healthcare is very rigorous,” she says. “We’re using a multi-modal approach to ensure that everyone is capable, confident and can demonstrate their competency.” She adds that while it’s natural to be nervous about new technology, “the solution is understanding the benefits and having time to practice.”

Excitement is building as the move grows closer, Indewey says. She has met several new employees who were attracted to West Park by the opportunity to work in the new building.

Harvey notes that because the new hospital is being created on site, employees have watched it go up at every stage. “Now we’ll all get to see the beautiful new care environment inside.” She hopes there will be an opportunity to celebrate everything that has been achieved since the process began several years ago, including the hospital space planning that started in 2014. “It’s like giving birth, but nine years instead of nine months!” she says, adding, “It’s so rewarding and satisfying to see it all come together.”

Once our new facility has opened, we will turn our attention to our expansive grounds, creating outdoor therapy spaces, walking trails, quiet gardens and gathering spaces for the benefit of our entire community. Our full campus transformation will be complete in 2025.

The story originally appeared in the Spring 2023 issue of the Giving Lives Back newsletter. You can read the full issue here.