A large team of approximately twenty-five individuals worked together during the week of January 5-9 to continue planning design options for the new integrated health facility in Leader. The team included members of the Leader health services staff, patient/family representatives, primary health care clinic team members, aodbt architecture representatives, community members, and others. Members of Cypress Health Region’s Kaizen Promotion Office coordinated the event and activities for the week.

The 3P Event (Production, Preparation, Process) utilized the principles of Lean to continue developing the blueprint for the new integrated facility. One of the major objectives for the week was to ensure that the facility’s design will maximize the patient flows and make additional improvements to make the patient experience even more valuable to them.

During the week, participants were kept busy with a variety of tasks which included group work, specific team work, and individual creative thinking. The five days were scheduled to review the various flows of patients, health providers, equipment, information, supplies, and medications; identify the various wastes and inefficiencies within the current flows that could be reviewed to offer a better care experience for patients in the new facility; review and select an external footprint for the new addition’s attachment to the existing long term care facility; create over 150 design options for the internal look of the addition, which were eventually voted down to one design for further 3D model development; create and build table top and full-sized mock ups of what an acute inpatient and universal care unit room will look like; and provide a report out which summarized the week’s activities.

Sherry Miller serves as the Health Services Manager for Leader and she helps to coordinate the programs and services offered in the four current Cypress Health buildings. She was one of the participants involved in the week and will play an important role in the future planning and transition to the new integrated facility.

“It has been amazing to watch the progression of the 3P team from the start to the end of the week, and the results that we have achieved,” commented Miller. “With the amount of background information and data that was provided, the team used their expertise and past experiences with patient care to develop an exciting design option that will take full advantage of our programs and services being under one roof. The results from this week are another example of what can be achieved when a team is moving in the same direction, with a specific target to be achieved.”

“We were very impressed with the creative and innovative efforts of the 3P team this week,” said Brenda Schwan, Executive Director of Human Resources and Capital Lead for Cypress Health. “The level of detail in the design options that were put forward allowed the team members to look at the best elements from many options, and put them together into a final option that will provide a positive care experience for our patients. All of the detailed thoughts and feedback that the staff were able to provide will prove to be extremely beneficial for our architectural design team as they move towards creating a final design for the new build.”

There will be an opportunity for staff and the general public to examine the work that the 3P event team completed and get an advance look at some of the conceptual design work that was accomplished. An ‘Open House’ event will be held on January 12 and 13 at the Little Flower Parish Hall in Leader (10 am – 4 pm, 6 – 8 pm; each day) where visitors can increase their awareness of what the new integrated facility is going to look like and what services/programs will be included within it. Visitors can walk through the life-sized mock ups of an acute inpatient room and universal care unit room. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Construction on the new integrated facility is anticipated to begin in the fall of 2015 and it is expected to open its doors in the fall of 2016. The approved capital project will see a physical addition built onto the Western Senior Citizen’s Home which will include acute care, primary health care clinic, community health services, home care, and ambulance services.