The new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital (PECMH) will be a leading-edge healthcare facility designed to met the current and future capacity needs of its local communities.

HH Angus was engaged by Quinte Health to provide the new hospital with mechanical and electrical engineering services, lighting, audio-visual, and security systems design, as well as energy modeling and ICAT digital strategy.

The project includes the construction of a new hospital with improved equipment and facilities, including a 24-hour emergency department, acute inpatient unit, helipad, surgical suite, diagnostic imaging, laboratory, dialysis unit, and other specializations.

Significantly, the PECMH will be the first acute care hospital in North America with an all-mass timber structure. Unencapsulated mass timber is faster and more accurate in construction compared to steel and concrete and sequesters carbon better than any other structural material. Use of mass timber is estimated to be saving the project over 9 million kilograms of embodied carbon dioxide compared to a conventional steel and concrete structure. Other sustainable aspects of the new building include energy-efficient windows, selection of sustainable materials and use of natural light in the building’s atrium.

Our systems design included a hybrid plant comprising a geo-exchange heat pump, gas-fired heating, domestic hot water generation and humidification elements. A six pipe, 200-ton geo-exchange heat pump has been designed to allow simultaneous heating and cooling to maximize efficiency performance. The geothermal system is expected to provide 50 percent of the hospital’s cooling and 90 percent of its heating. The new building will feature a solar panel installation on the roof, which will lower electricity operating costs and avoid the use of 2,000 tons of carbon during the panels’ lifespan. 

Our ICAT team assisted in the development of a Digital Strategy to support the project. This included a current state assessment, visioning, implementation roadmap creation, and budget cost estimate. The ICAT scope of work also included systems integration design involving development of a comprehensive integration use case list through user engagement sessions, as well as developing the construction documents, consisting of an integration matrix, integration concept model / diagram, and integration specification.

The project was featured in Canadian Architect Magazine in April 2025, and in a 1-minute YouTube video.

Image courtesy of Quinte Health