Rouge Valley Centenary Hospital has broken ground on a $20.5 million regional birthing and newborn centre, said to be the most advanced facility of its ilk in Scarborough and the only advanced level II neo-natal intensive care unit in the eastern GTA.
Architecture
Stantec Architecture behind unique design
Rouge Valley Centenary Hospital has broken ground on a $20.5 million regional birthing and newborn centre, said to be the most advanced facility of its ilk in Scarborough and the only advanced level II neo-natal intensive care unit in the eastern GTA.
Designed by Stantec Architecture, the 38,000-square-foot pavilion is intended to better reflect modern practices related to the birthing experience by respecting a mother’s choices allowing her and her family to remain in one private room for labour, delivery, recovery and post-partum care.
The facility co-locates both the maternal newborn and neo-natal intensive care unit adjacent to one another, providing an integrated, family-centred birthing experience.
“The big idea was that we wanted to drive this as much as possible to be a patient-centred, family-centred kind of facility,” Stantec senior associate Stuart Elgie told Daily Commercial News.
“That started to play out in the idea of this being a real pavilion. We realized we could make this a little bit different from the rest of the hospital.”
The centre is being constructed by Harbridge & Cross Ltd. It is scheduled to open in 2008.
The building design complements the existing structure of the Rouge Valley Centenary and specifically the 1967 building. Like the original hospital building, the birthing centre addition is comprised of a limited palette of materials: light coloured masonry, metal cladding and glazing to maximize views to the neighbouring natural ravine.
The addition provides a clear and direct path for patients from the main hospital lobby area. The path is configured around an exterior courtyard formed by the new addition, providing full height glazing to the landscaping beyond.
“Conceptually, there was this idea of leaving the hospital to go around this landscaped courtyard and then come into the birthing centre itself,” said Elgie, whose firm has designed numerous health care facilities.
The centre houses 16 labour delivery, recovery and post-partum rooms with a “welcoming” feeling. That is accomplished through the use of warm colours, variable lighting, comfortable furniture, wood finishes and abundant natural light.
Medical gases and services for mother and infant are concealed behind sliding wood panels until they are required, supporting the requirement for a more domestic experience.
Twenty one additional post-partum beds are located in comfortable homelike settings where mothers and babies will be cared for by the same health care team.
The centre also includes:
• Two operating rooms, with adjacent recovery areas.
• An advanced neonatal intensive care unit built adjacent to the birthing rooms comprised of four pods with varying levels of critical care and isolation accommodations.
• Four, private care-by-parent rooms, a family lounge and two overnight hostel rooms for parents who are awaiting discharge of their infants.
Funding is being provided by the Ontario government, donations to the Rouge Valley Health System Foundation and from Rouge Valley Centenary volunteers.
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