Visualizing the Hospital’s New Space

Even the smallest decisions, such as where to put light switches in a patient room, impact how staff will be able to provide care in Markham Stouffville Hospital’s expanded building. So how does the hospital’s expansion team ensure we are making the right decisions? The answer is simple – they ask the staff delivering front-line care.

“In some situations, looking at two dimensional planning documents does not give us the perspective we want in order to make decisions about our new space,” says Suman Bahl, Director, Redevelopment. “The best way to get a feel for the layout of a room and the placement of medical equipment is to mock it up.”

This is exactly what the expansion team has been doing to give staff a better visual of how the rooms in the expanded building will look, while getting feedback on the locations of outlets, the configuration of headwalls and the placement of other elements in the rooms.

Several rooms have been mocked up with drywall partitions and door frames, with other items made out of cardboard or shown on paper. The expansion team has also placed furniture in the spaces as they review each room with staff from the respective areas.

“By creating a room that staff can walk into, where they can stand next to a patient bed and look at where the equipment will be, gives them the opportunity to visualize the space and think about how they will actually work in it.  We have had some very helpful feedback as a result,” Bahl says.