Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Space Optimization Study Using AWS QuickSight

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, a leading healthcare provider in Toronto, was seeking to address challenges in medical space utilization. With a diverse array of clinical services and bookable exam rooms, Sunnybrook faced challenges understanding a perceived shortage of space. Yet, intermittent observations suggested that many exam rooms were frequently empty.

M6 – Multipurpose Clinical Space | Yuval & Lori Barzakay Brain Health Clinic Study

To gain a clearer understanding of space utilization and identify potential inefficiencies, Sunnybrook partnered with HH Angus, leveraging our expertise in digital solutions and innovative engineering. The goal was to implement a robust monitoring system to capture accurate data on room usage, enabling informed decisions on resource allocation.

This project reflects Sunnybrook’s commitment to operational efficiency, ensuring that resources are optimally allocated to improve patient care and support staff needs.

SERVICES
Prime Consultant

PROJECT FEATURES
Digital monitoring system to inform clinical resource allocation | Enhanced operational efficiency | Patient privacy | Scalable design | Predictive analytics

LOCATION
Toronto, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Space utilization measurement and analysis | Data acquisition through sensor deployment | Security and connectivity | Data aggregation and storage | Visualization and insights

Solving Space Utilization Challenges

Sunnybrook’s medical staff expressed concerns about limited space availability, particularly for bookable exam rooms. However, casual observations indicated that some rooms appeared to remain empty. Sunnybrook needed a reliable solution to measure actual room usage accurately while addressing two significant concerns:

Privacy: Ensuring patient privacy was paramount, particularly in sensitive clinical settings.

Accurate Detection: Existing solutions struggled to detect minimal motion, such as during procedures like blood transfusions, where patients may remain largely still.

HH Angus was engaged to design and implement a solution capable of addressing these challenges while delivering actionable insights.

Solution | Smart Sensors and AWS Integration

Our Digital Services team developed an innovative solution leveraging cutting-edge sensors and AWS services:

Sensor Deployment:

- mmWave Sensors: Initial deployment involved mmWave sensors capable of detecting micro-motions, such as breathing, to confirm room occupancy. These sensors were equipped with cellular SIM cards to operate independently of Sunnybrook’s network.
- 3D Stereoptic Sensors: To further expand the data gathered from the various clinics, the move to 3D-stereoptic sensors was used to provide not just occupancy status of exam rooms, but also the near real-time occupancy count data. Enhancing scalability, these sensors could monitor multiple rooms simultaneously, offering greater hardware efficiency.

Security and Connectivity:

- mmWave sensors utilized mTLS (mutual Transport Layer Security) for secure data transmission.
- Custom authorization for 3D-stereoptic sensors was implemented using AWS Lambda.

Data Aggregation and Storage:

- Data was streamed via Amazon Data Firehose and AWS IoT Core, stored in AWS S3, and processed through AWS Lambda.
- A centralized S3 data lake provided a secure, scalable repository for all processed data.

Visualization and Insights:

- Data queries were conducted using AWS Athena, while AWS QuickSight offered intuitive 2D dashboards for near-real-time analysis with minimal latency.

This comprehensive approach ensured seamless integration, robust data security, and actionable insights for Sunnybrook.

Outcome | Actionable Insights and Future Expansion

The solution provided Sunnybrook with detailed, data-driven insights into space utilization:

Initial Findings: The installation was completed in December 2024, and data collection began in January 2025. Analysis of the 11 monitored exam rooms in Sunnybrook’s M-Wing, conducted from January to March 2025, revealed a surprising utilization rate of only 33%. This insight challenged initial staff assumptions and highlighted opportunities for more efficient space planning.

Future Outlook: New medical clinics, which opened in January 2025, will contribute additional data to further refine Sunnybrook’s understanding of space usage and inform future expansion strategies.

Through this project, Sunnybrook is well-positioned to optimize its clinical spaces, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively to enhance both staff workflows and patient care delivery.

Key Outcomes Summary

Accurate Space Utilization Data: Revealed underutilization of monitored exam rooms, providing actionable insights.

Efficient Resource Allocation: Enabled informed decisions about space planning and allocation.

Scalability: Designed for expansion, with sensors deployed to additional clinics.

Improved Patient Care: Enhanced operational efficiency supports better patient care delivery.

Predictive Analytics: Tool for staff to forecast resourcing needs based on the day of the week using historical trends

Privacy Assurance: Leveraged secure sensor technologies to maintain patient confidentiality.

AWS Services Used

AWS S3 (Simple Storage Service): Acted as the central repository for storing and
retrieving large datasets, facilitating data analysis and accessibility.

AWS IoT Core: Enabled secure, scalable connectivity for IoT devices, allowing for efficient data collection and integration into the cloud.

AWS Athena: Offered an interactive query service to analyze data in Amazon S3 using SQL, simplifying the extraction of actionable insights from complex datasets.

AWS QuickSight: Provided visualization tools and dashboards for business intelligence, enabling Manulife to derive and act upon insights from their data effectively.AWS Lambda: Supported serverless computing, automating data processing and transformation tasks without the need for server management.

Amazon Data Firehose: Streamlined the capture, transformation, and loading of streaming data, ensuring efficient data flow from IoT devices to storage and analysis tools.

AWS IoT Events: Monitored sensor data for specific conditions, facilitating real-time alerting and response mechanisms to optimize building operations.

AWS Step Functions: Orchestrated complex data processing workflows, coordinating the various components of the ETL pipeline for streamlined operation and maintenance.

Infrastructure Ontario

Grandview Children's Centre Redevelopment

The Grandview Children's Centre is the new headquarters for Grandview Kids, specializing in care and support for children and youth with physical, communication and developmental needs, and their families.

The 94,744 ft2, 4-storey educational and treatment facility includes centre-wide therapy services, such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech-language pathology, therapeutic recreation, audiology, infant hearing, blind low vision and social work. The building contains a therapy pool area which includes an integrated AV system to create a more relaxing and therapeutic environment. It also offers autism services, a preschool outreach program, school-based rehabilitation services, developmental pediatrics, including specialized medical clinics, and family/caregiver resources and support. The facility is home to the Grandview School, as well as a branch of the Ajax Public Library. The building site also features a therapeutic trail that integrates security into the landscaping for added safety while maintaining the appearance of being surrounded by nature.

The project was delivered through the P3 (Design Build Finance) model and won the Award of Merit for Project Development at the Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnership’s (CCPPP) 2022 National Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Public-Private Partnerships.

Image courtesy of Grandview Kids

SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering | Information and Communications Technology | Vertical Transportation

PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 94,744 ft2 | Status: Completed 2024 | P3-DBF | CCPPP 2022 Award of Merit for Project Development

LOCATION
Ajax, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Integrated Grandview School and Ajax Public Library branch

Fraser Health

New Surrey Hospital and BC Cancer Centre

Surrey BC is a fast-growing community in need of additional healthcare resources. The New Surrey Hospital and BC Cancer Centre will provide 168 hospital beds and 55 Emergency Department treatment spaces in a state-of-the-art facility to improve health services in the region.

The $2.88B hospital project reached its one-year construction milestone in August 2024 and is anticipated to be completed in 2029 and open to the public in 2030. Additional features of the fully-electric facility include a surgical/perioperative suite with five ORs, four procedure rooms and virtual care options in all clinical service areas to increase capacity and expand care. The new BC Cancer Centre is expected to provide approximately 105,000 ambulatory oncology care visits, 50,000 radiation therapy visits and 22,000 chemotherapy visits each year. The facility is being built under a Design-Build Agreement with EllisDon Design Build Inc.

Leading BC's first generation of smart hospitals, the new Surrey hospital will embed data insights and new technologies into both the design of the facility and delivery of clinical care. The Angus Connect team is providing a full spectrum of ICAT/IMIT design and AGV consulting, and HH Angus’ Vertical Transportation team is designing the elevator systems.

Images courtesy of Fraser Health and EllisDon Design Build – conceptual renderings, subject to change

SERVICES
ICAT/IMIT Design | AGV Consulting | Vertical Transportation Consulting

LOCATION
Surrey BC

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Information, communications and automation technology | Automated guided vehicle design consulting | elevator design consulting

New BC Cancer Centre

The facility will provide ~105,000 ambulatory oncology care visits, 50,000 radiation therapy visits and 22,000 chemotherapy visits annually.

Smart hospitals

The NSHBCCC is one of BC's new generation of smart hospitals.

King Animal Hospital

Fitout and Peer Review

The King Animal Hospital is a state-of-the-art multidisciplinary referral and emergency hospital for small animals and equines, complete with MRI’s and medical gas systems.

HH Angus provided mechanical consulting services for the fitout of the King Animal Hospital. Our scope of work included a peer review and report identifying potential gaps between the base building mechanical infrastructure and the programming and capacity requirements for the state-of-the-art animal hospital. Following the peer review and report, we provided full mechanical design services for the fitout, from schematic design through to construction administration and project close-out.

The fitout included approximately 60,000 FT2 in a 4-storey greenfield facility, accommodating a wide range of program elements including 8 operating rooms, 12 exam rooms, an MDRD sterilization room, laboratory and pharmacy, diagnostic imaging (MRIs, CT Scan) suites, hydrotherapy, and physiotherapy, as well as support and administrative spaces.

The sub-cellar is home to an equine treatment area with CT equipment outfitted with robotic arms, and an MRI with an adjacent horse lift. An arena will be used for equine physiotherapy. A large heated ramp from grade was selected over an animal elevator to provide a safer, and less stressful, mode of transportation for the horses when moving between floors. The small animal services area of the sub-cellar features three aquatic treadmills, a hydrotherapy pool, and a hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

The cellar level includes the staff gym, lounge, meeting areas, and a dog quarantine with an exam room and 17+ dog runs. Oxygen connections to the cages and foot baths in the floor support infection prevention and control.

The ground floor features an equine surgical area, including recovery, dirty surgery area (two surgeries performed simultaneously), and an equine water treadmill. It also houses a treatment area for dogs, cats and exotics, including dentistry area, and a canine showcase area with three surgery, CT, x-ray and neurological rooms with MRI equipment.

The second floor houses staff meeting spaces and amenities. A multipurpose space doubles as a surgical support area, Learning Centre, and workshop.

The base building infrastructure was in place prior to HH Angus joining the project, which meant our team was tasked with working in the confines of a building shell that was already in place. This presented challenges at the cellar level, where the team had to design while accounting for low floor to floor heights.

The hospital had not yet retained any permanent staff during the design stage, and many of the programming elements relied on recommendations from other consultants/doctors/experts during the design-stage user group meetings. Once permanent staff were hired for key departments, the design team worked with the client to make adjustments to the layouts and equipment based on staff input.

Although an animal hospital does not fall under the same CSA standards required for human
hospitals, there is a trend towards meeting those standards in animal care facilities. HH Angus wrote design briefs for systems and features that the client chose for this facility, many of which aligned with CSA requirements for a state-of-the-art human hospital.

SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Peer Review

PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 60,000 ft2 | Status: Completed 2024

LOCATION
King City, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Spaces for diagnostic imaging, hydrotherapy, surgery, physiotherapy, and support and administrative space | Therapy arena and pools | Staff amenities

Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care

Chigamik Community Health Hub

Waypoint Chigamik Mental Health Centre is part of a redevelopment project and replaces two older facilities in use since the 1800s.

The challenges of this project included the requirement that the entire building be completely designed in one stage, rather than proceeding with design packages, plus delays in funding during the design process which resulted in a requirement for both a base building package and a fitout package.

To accomplish this, HH Angus coordinated two tender packages and two building permit submissions. Some detailed specifications in each package were interchangeable for the mechanical and electrical tender process. Working with phased schedules ensured that equipment start-up was fully coordinated between the tender packages.

The project faced additional challenges to provide an energy-efficient HVAC system, due to compliance with CSA Z317.2 and budget restrictions, as well as a small mechanical service space. To overcome these challenges, extensive coordination was implemented throughout the project across all disciplines.

SERVICES
Mechanical Engineering | Electrical Engineering | Lighting Design | ICAT Commissioning

PROJECT FEATURES
Size: 40,000 ft2 | DBFM | Fully ducted HVAC system designed to comply with CSA Z317.2 | Status: Completed 2020

LOCATION
Midland, Ontario

KEY SCOPE ELEMENTS
Building has full back up power with generator sized to accommodate the entire load of the building on loss of utility power conditions

Exterior of Waypoint Chigamik Community Health Hub

Efficient design

Several engineering designs were reviewed by the project team to ensure compliance with the owner’s goals and restrictions, while achieving an efficient design.

Customized spaces

The two-storey 40,000 ft2 mental health care facility has amenities for indigenous smudging ceremonies, physiotherapy, conferences, a community kitchen, gathering rooms, and a youth programming space.

Sector: Healthcare