Tag Archives: Capital Project

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 Facility Expansion Continues to Move Forward

The Cypress Health Region is continuing its planning efforts for the recently announced expansion to the existing Western Senior Citizens Home in Leader, SK.

A patient-centred Lean 3P (production, preparation, process) is beginning in early December. The event will chart current patient flows and processes in a variety of areas. It includes mapping the patient experience in primary health care, lab/x-ray, therapies, and emergency outpatient visits. Staff, patient-family representatives, and others will be involved in this ‘current state’ process. In early January the team will then reconvene to create desired ‘future state’ processes that the $12 million expansion can be modeled from.

“Several years ago we began 3P work in Leader to look at improved ways of delivering services to patients. Now that we know a new facility is coming to the community, we will build off of this initial work to ensure the patient experience is as smooth and efficient as possible,” commented Brenda Schwan, Executive Director of Human Resources, who is the capital project lead.

In addition to Lean 3P work being completed, the projects Request for Proposals (RFP) period concluded on November 19. Qualified architectural design firms were invited to bid on the job of leading the consulting/design services. Several submissions were received, indicating a strong desire for firms to be involved in the exciting project.

The health region has established a review committee who will short list the submitted RFPs and conduct interviews. It is anticipated that the RFP will be awarded by the end of the first week of December which will be followed by an announcement on the successful bid.

“We are very satisfied with the quantity and quality of RFP bids that were submitted and are looking forward to creating the short list. Our review committee will thoroughly evaluate each submission to determine the winning bid,” added Schwan.

The Leader capital 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. For more information on the Leader capital project please visit the Building Excellence in Rural Health page.

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.