Tag Archives: Brenda Schwan

Featured, News Release

Tender to be Re-Issued for Leader Capital Project

Following extensive efforts and multiple reviews of submitted construction tenders for the integration of health care facilities in Leader, the Cypress Health Region has cancelled the initial ‘call for construction tenders’ process.  The inability to award the construction tender at this time was directly due to the proposed tender submissions being substantially higher than the budgeted capital construction amount approved by the provincial Ministry of Health and Cypress Health Region.

The health region is continuing to work with local staff, the Ministry of Health and the project’s architectural partner, AODBT Architecture, to revise the overall design of the project and prepare documents for a second ‘call for construction tenders’.  The revised design will attempt to incorporate the required changes that will meet the overall approved budgeted capital construction amount.

“We are very disappointed that the construction tender award cannot be completed at this time,” commented Brenda Schwan, Vice President of Continuing Care and Capital Project Lead for the health region.  “Following the receipt of the initial tenders and subsequent efforts to find some efficiencies, it became clear that the bidding companies’ proposals would not meet the available budget.”

Extensive planning and design work has been completed on the proposed amalgamation of all health services under one roof.  Staff and physicians, patient and family representatives, community members, municipal stakeholders, and the project’s architectural consultants have provided their input and feedback into the new integrated facility design.

Schwan added that the previous work will continue to be utilized in the re-design of the integrated facility project and that the working groups will be involved in the next steps.  “We have identified several potential revisions to the current design that will not affect the provision of health programs and services, but will reduce the overall construction costs,” added Schwan.  “Our working groups will develop a new design that will meet the capital construction budget for the project, and we look forward to the distribution of another call for tenders in the near future.”

The health region would like to emphasize that the facility integration project for Leader remains a top priority.  They would like to express their gratitude to the municipal councils for their financial commitment to the project, to the variety of fundraising efforts being undertaken for future equipment and furnishings needs, and to the staff and working groups for their planning efforts.

The proposed capital project includes the addition of acute care, emergency medical services and universal care unit, along with renovations to the existing Western Senior Citizens Home to accommodate the integration of health services.  The project will result in a continuum of health services being located under one roof at the current location of the Western Senior Citizens Home.

As more updates are available in relation to the progress and status of the construction tender process, they will be passed along to the staff and public.

Featured, News Release

Leader Health Care Facility Integration Process Delayed

Planning and design work for the integration of health care facilities in the community of Leader have been ongoing for many months. Discussions and design efforts have included representatives from the Leader health services staff, patient and/or family individuals, members of the architectural team, community stakeholders, and the Cypress Health Region.

A call for construction tenders was recently distributed and there was significant interest expressed from a variety of bidding companies. However, when the tender proposals were opened, it was discovered that the lowest tender was substantially higher than the budgeted capital construction amount approved by the provincial Ministry of Health.

Since the initial review of the tender documents, the Cypress Health Region has had discussions with the Ministry of Health and the project’s architectural partner, AODBT Architecture, to identify the next steps in the process. It was determined that a further detailed review of the submitted tenders will be undertaken in an attempt to identify any efficiencies.

As a result of this delay in the construction tender award process, the scheduled official sod turning event on November 13th has been postponed until further notice. It will be rescheduled in the future.

“Along with the staff, municipal partners, and community we are very disappointed with the results of the call for tenders,” said Brenda Schwan, Cypress Health’s Vice President of Human Resources and Capital Projects. “However, we want to emphasize that the project has not been cancelled and this is merely a bump in the road towards the start of construction on our health facility integration capital project.”

Schwan added that the health region will continue to work with its project partners and the Leader project planning committee members to move the project forward towards the start of construction. “Together with the Ministry of Health, we remain committed and want to see this capital project move forward so that the overall patient care experience can be enhanced with health services all under one roof.”

The proposed capital project included the addition of acute care, ambulance/emergency medical services and universal care unit, along with renovations to the existing Western Senior Citizens Home to accommodate the integration of health services. It was anticipated that construction would begin in November 2015 and that the project would be complete in the summer of 2017. The project will result in a continuum of health services being located under one roof at the current location of the Western Senior Citizens Home.

As more updates are available in relation to the progress and status of the construction tender process, they will be passed along to the staff and public.

Featured, News Release

Leader Project Moves to Call for Construction Tenders Phase

With the start of construction for the integration of health facilities in the community of Leader just around the corner, the Cypress Health Region has received Ministry of Health approval to release the tender documents for the construction/renovation for the new integrated facility. The call for tenders was released on September 15th and will conclude on October 15th.

The ‘call for tenders’ process will allow potential General Contractors to finalize their construction proposal in relation to overall project cost, timelines for completion, strategies for attaining the objectives of the integrated facility’s model of care, and other relevant construction issues. The contractors will be expected to have a strong collaborative partnership with Cypress Health and the Ministry of Health during the construction process.

“We are very appreciative of the community and staff’s continuing excitement for the start of construction,” stated Brenda Schwan, Vice President of Human Resources and Capital Projects for the Cypress Health Region. “This call for construction tenders is one of the last major steps prior to the start of construction and we are looking forward to finalizing the General Contractor who will be a vital partner of our project team during the next two years.”

The bids will be publicly opened on October 16th. They will be reviewed and evaluated by the Project Team, which will be followed by an approximate 1-2 week timeline for the Ministry of Health and Cypress Health Region to approve and award the contract. Discussions with the successful General Contractor regarding the initiation of the next steps will begin immediately after the award is completed. It is anticipated that on-site construction will begin in early November 2015.

The construction project will consist of an addition to the existing Western Senior Citizens Home and related renovations to the existing building to accommodate the addition. Features of the project will include:

  • 11 universal care unit treatment rooms – physicians, nurse practitioner, public health, community and mental health, home care, and visiting professional services will be located in this area. The programming for this area is based on a new model of care which encourages deeper collaboration between health providers and reduces the amount of locations one has to travel to in order to receive a continuum of health services.
  • Therapies suite
  • 5 acute care inpatient rooms
  • 1 isolation acute care room – will serve as a new service not currently available at the Leader Hospital
  • 1 trauma/emergency bed
  • Laboratory and x-ray service
  • 1 family overnight suite
  • A new 12-bed long term care wing will be constructed to replace an existing Western Seniors Citizens Home wing, which will be renovated to provide other services in the integrated facility. During the period that the new long term care wing will be built, affected residents will be temporarily relocated into a dedicated area of the Leader Hospital.

Schwan added that the staff, patient family representatives, and community members have been very busy over the past several months in finalizing the facility design and construction parameters. “Their dedication to designing the little extras will go a long way to ensuring that the care offered in the facility will be as effective as possible,” stated Schwan. “The input of the staff and others has been tremendous and well
received.”

Construction is anticipated to be complete by summer 2017.

News Release

Progress Made on Design of New Integrated Facility in Leader

Following a successful week-long planning event in January that saw Leader health services staff and patient/family representatives explore options for the design of the community’s new integrated health facility, significant progress is being made to move the project planning through its early phases.

The creative 3P (Production, Preparation, Process) planning event held in January established basic adjacencies between departments and services, where the input of health services staff was essential in determining the best interior blueprint to maximize the patient flows and their health care experience. The overall design option selected included the addition of a third long term care wing which will be constructed between the existing north and west wings.

Following up on the efforts of the 3P team, the ‘schematic design’ phase began in early February. Members of the health services and design team travelled to Maple Creek to tour the acute care and universal care unit areas of the soon-to-be-open Southwest Integrated Healthcare Facility (SIHF).

“Seizing the opportunity for the staff to tour and review the layout of the Maple Creek facility was very timely in our design planning for Leader,” said Brenda Schwan, Vice President of Human Resources and Capital Project Lead. “They had a chance to see how the patients would flow through the programs and departments, and use that real-life-size information to make adjustments to the Leader design. This is another example of how we can use another community’s success to better the future programming in a separate community.”

Further discussions with the architects led to the final schematic design meeting on March 2. Following this, the interior adjacencies for wall placements, location of each desired space and room, and the coordination of all spaces were confirmed. The ‘design development’ phase is expected to begin on March 17, where the architect will expand upon the schematic design processes to develop more detailed drawings illustrating other aspects of the proposed design.

A variety of tenders have been awarded to the capital project partners that will be actively engaged in the design and construction planning process. In addition to aodbt architecture and interior design who was awarded the architectural services contract, Altus Geomatics (site survey), P. Machibroda Engineering (geotechnical services), and Golder Associates (hazardous materials) were the successful tenders for their respective Request for Proposals (RFP). The project’s general construction contractor RFP is expected to be released in summer 2015.

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 see acute care, long term care, primary health care clinic, community health services, home care, and ambulance services included under one roof.

News Release

Leader Staff Contribute to Design of New Facility

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.

News Release

Construction Camera Launched for Swift Current Capital Project

Construction of the new Swift Current Long Term Care facility is underway and with the use of a webcam set up on the construction site, you can view the progress being made from the comfort of your home or on-the-go.

The webcam is available on the Cypress Health Region website and can be viewed 24-hours per day by visiting the Swift Current Long Term Care project page and scrolling down to the ‘Construction Camera’ link. The camera takes images every 15 minutes and allows visitors to zoom in on specific areas of the site. A special feature of the webcam provides the opportunity to see the progress from the beginning of the project using a ‘time lapse camera’ feature. Images can also be shared via social media channels with a click of a button.

Another feature of the dedicated webpage that visitors will enjoy is an animation video that was developed by the Plenary Health team. The video provides a video depiction of the conceptual design for the new long term care facility. It includes an a birds-eye view encompassing the entire building and a variety of images that show the main entrance, community centre, 10-bed house, standard resident room, 15-bed house, palliative care room, and many other locations within the facility.

“These two resources were made available on our website so that everyone has the ability to join in the excitement that is building for the new long term care facility,” said Brenda Schwan, Executive Director of Human Resources and Capital Project Lead for the Cypress Health Region. “The animation video offers a sneak peek at the conceptual design of the facility and helps to offer a visual look at the home-like atmosphere that will be emphasized throughout the building.”

Schwan also noted the benefits that the construction site webcam will offer to everyone – to those who live close by the construction site, and those who live farther away and don’t have the ability to stay in touch with the construction progress. “We have utilized a similar webcam with other capital projects within the region and have received numerous notes of appreciation from people who visit the site on a regular basis,” added Schwan. “With the rapid construction timeline that has been set for the project, the webcam will allow everyone to stay up to date with the efforts of our construction partners.”

The Swift Current Long Term Care capital project will consist of 225 long term care beds and will replace the existing three facilities which currently provide long term care services in the community of Swift Current. Anticipated completion of the project is scheduled for late spring of 2016.

News Release

Patient Flow Mapping Event Held in Leader

The Leader Hospital and Primary Health Care Clinic saw some increased activity on December 8-10, as staff members from Leader and the Cypress Health Region were involved in following patients as they moved through their specific care experiences. This ‘value stream mapping’ exercise will provide important information to be used in the future planning and design of the new integrated health facility in the community.

Value stream mapping allows the staff teams to identify and capture the current experiences of patients through a specific care experience. During these three days, staff followed patient appointments at the Primary Health Care Clinic and patient visits to the Hospital’s lab and x-ray department, emergency outpatient service, and therapies service. Each process step in the individual patient experience was timed and mapped to identify where patients are waiting or walking to receive their service.

“The information collected during this exercise was very beneficial to determine what the current processes are for patients who are accessing these services,” commented Brenda Schwan, Executive Director of Human Resources and Capital Lead for the Cypress Health Region. “It will be utilized as baseline information as we continue to plan the new integrated facility in future design-related events.”

The mapping exercise was one of the initial phases that will take place in the planning for the capital project that will see the construction of an addition to the existing Western Senior Citizens Home. The next step in the planning will be a 3P event in early January where staff, patient/family representatives, and other members of the design team will continue developing the blueprint for the new integrated facility.

“The 3P team will use the timings and patient flows from this week to identify different design options that will eliminate the waits and unnecessary travel distances for our patients,” added Schwan. “One obvious example of this will be the reduced distance between the primary health care clinic providers and the laboratory for follow-up testing, due to all of our services being under one roof.”

All of the information gathered from the value stream mapping week will be used in the 3P event which will be held from January 5-9, 2015. One of the major objectives will be 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.

The 3P event will serve as an opportunity to revisit the functional planning and initial design work that was completed three years ago by staff and community members.

“We are looking forward to the next event in January,” said Michele Garrett, a member of Leader’s Emergency Medical Services team and a participant in the value stream mapping exercise. “There are many benefits of taking a close look at how we currently provide care to our patients, and how we can make small changes to provide an even better care experience for them.”

Construction on the new integrated facility is anticipated to begin in the fall of 2015 and is expected to open its doors in the fall of 2016. More details on the capital project in Leader can be found here.

News Release

Leader Project Moves to Request for Proposals Stage

Work on the new integrated facility in Leader, SK has moved to the next phase of the construction process. The Cypress Health Region is advertising a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the project, inviting qualified architectural design firms to bid on the job of leading the team and subconsultants by providing consulting and design services.

On September 22, 2014, Saskatchewan Minister of Health Dustin Duncan announced a new $12 million expansion to the existing Western Senior Citizens Home in the town of Leader. The project will renovate and expand the existing long-term care facility and includes the attachment of acute care, community health services, primary health care, and ambulance services.

Brenda Schwan, Executive Director of Human Resources for the Cypress Health Region, is the project lead and emphasizes the region’s excitement in moving to the next step of the process.

“This capital project in Leader is one that’s been on our region’s priority list for a number of years and it’s exciting for both the community and the region to be moving into the RFP stage. We anticipate strong interest in the RFP and continue to look forward to the construction of this facility that, once finished, will greatly improve the delivery of health services in Leader,” Schwan commented.

The RFP is being publicly advertised on various tendering service websites. It highlights the need for the project to be designed in a way that truly integrates the community’s health services. Submissions will be evaluated against a number of pre-determined criteria. The deadline for RFP submissions is November 19, 2014. The health region will then interview and negotiate with short listed proponents and anticipate the successful candidate to be selected in the beginning of December.

Once the successful proponent is selected, the project will then advance to the schematic and detail design phases. The facility is being designed utilizing the patient-centred 3P (production, preparation, process) method that will help maximize patient flow. Construction is anticipated to begin in summer 2015.

For more information on the Leader capital project please visit the Building Excellence in Rural Health page on the region’s website.

News Release

Construction Delays for New Maple Creek Facility

As the timelines for the transition into the new Southwest Integrated Healthcare Facility grow closer, the Cypress Health Region has been informed that the construction project has experienced significant and unforeseen delays which will cause a further delay in the completion of the project. During recent discussions with the project’s general contractor, Graham Construction, the health region was advised that the date of substantial completion and possession of the building has been pushed back into 2015.

The health region was updated with timelines associated with a two-stage construction completion:

  • Zone 1 (which includes the universal care unit, one acute care wing, diagnostics, plant operations, and health records areas) will be completed on January 5, 2015.
  • Zone 2 (which includes the remainder of acute care, all long term care areas, nutrition, and administration areas) will be completed on March 2, 2015.

The identified substantial completion dates will then be followed by a series of process steps prior to the actual opening of these areas being available for services to be offered to the public. These processes include staff training and orientation to the new facility’s layout, equipment, and technologies; required safety checks; general cleaning of all areas and other facility preparations; and, the opportunity for public tours. It is anticipated that these process steps can be achieved within a 6-week window of time following substantial completion. The transfer of long term care residents from Cypress Lodge will occur following the March 2nd date and when the above-noted process steps are completed.

As a result of this information and new timeline developments, the health region is currently reviewing the transition plan relating to the anticipated move to the new facility. A revised plan is being developed that will ensure the safety and appropriateness of moving programs and services to the new integrated facility.

“The community and our staff are anxiously looking forward to the point in time when our health programs and services will be transferred to the new facility so these recent developments are disappointing,” said Brenda Schwan, Executive Director of Human Resources and Capital Project Lead for Cypress Health Region. “However, we realize that our construction partners are making extra efforts to maintain these new completion timelines and we are optimistic that they will do so.”

Schwan acknowledged that the construction delays will mean that the temporary locations for acute, emergency services, primary health care, and some community services will continue for longer than anticipated.

“The health region is very proud of our staff and we realize that the Maple Creek staff has managed to continue delivering quality services in spite of less than ideal conditions,” added Schwan. “We are working hard to make the transition into the new building happen as soon as possible in a safe manner for our staff, patients, residents, and clients.”

The health region would like to extend its appreciation to the community and residents for their patience and understanding with the current situation. The new integrated facility will provide many benefits for southwest health care and staff recruitment in the coming years.

News Release

SIHF Construction Completion Update

Small Delay Anticipated for Completion of Construction

Southwest Integrated Healthcare Facility, Maple Creek

The construction site of the new Southwest Integrated Healthcare Facility (SIHF) in Maple Creek is full of activity and daily progress is constantly being made, both inside and outside. However, the completion of the newest health care facility in southwest Saskatchewan will experience a minor delay due to the availability of skilled tradespeople.

The revised timeline for substantial completion (referring to the point of time where only minor construction work remains, and the owner can make use of the facility) of the facility is mid-November 2014, versus the earlier anticipated timeline of early October. This adjustment is directly related to the significant difficulty in recruiting skilled tradespeople required to deliver the project on time. Sub-contractors have been struggling to attract skilled labor to work on the project in Maple Creek.

Following the substantial completion point in time, a series of process steps must occur prior to the actual opening date of the facility – these include staff training and orientation to the new facility’s layout, equipment, and technologies; required safety checks; general cleaning of all areas and other facility preparations; opportunity for public tours; and, the transfer of the long term care residents from the Cypress Lodge. It is anticipated that these process steps can be achieved within a 6-week window of time following substantial completion.

“We realize the challenges being faced with the recruitment of appropriate numbers of skilled tradespeople and appreciate the great efforts that our contractors are making in securing additional workers,” said Brenda Schwan, Executive Director of Human Resources and Capital Project Lead for Cypress Health Region. “The quality of the work being completed is amazing and we continue to look forward to the completion of the project.”

Trent Regier is the Director of Rural Health for the Region and will be coordinating the transition of services into the new facility. “We are planning to work with our construction partners in moving equipment and supplies into areas of the facility as they are completed,” commented Regier. “The entire continuum of all services will be transitioned into the new facility within a tight timeframe when it is completely ready for occupancy.”

Graham Construction (project’s General Contractor) has been exploring a variety of options to bring in additional tradespeople over the past while. They have seen some successes in the last two weeks with an increase in electricians on the site to help meet the demands of the construction timeline. Graham and ZW Group (project managers) have developed a contingency recovery plan to address the sub-contractor shortages, and will be seizing every opportunity that arises to make up time towards the completion of construction.

The Cypress Health Region would like to encourage the public to visit their website at www.cypresshealth.ca to view the ongoing progress of the new facility’s construction, and to view the on-site camera feed that provides real-time images (new photo taken every 15 minutes) of the construction site.