BC's Northern Health Authority is building a state-of-the-art hospital as a model of excellence in healthcare. The new Dawson Creek & District Hospital is being built in Treaty 8 territory, the ancestral home of the Beaver, Cree, Saulteau, Sicannie (Sikanni), and Slavey, and will serve numerous diverse communities.

The Dawson Creek and District Hospital (DCDH) is a 263,000 ft2 facility on a greenfield site, replacing the existing hospital. This three-story hospital will house an emergency department with 15 treatment spaces and 70 inpatient beds offering medical, surgical, maternity, high acuity, and mental health services. Additionally, it will feature 2 operating rooms, a procedure room, diagnostic imaging, a chemotherapy area, a perinatal unit comprising labor, delivery, recovery, and postpartum rooms, a nursery, mental health department, academic and teaching space, along with pharmacy services. The facility is being designed to meet LEED Gold certification standards.

As part of a comprehensive operational readiness engagement, Angus Connect is supporting DCDH through a structured, multi-phase approach to ensure a smooth transition to operational status. Our scope of work was divided into three main phases:

• Phase 1: Project initiation and assessment
• Phase 2: Development and implementation
• Phase 3: Transition plan, move, and learn (targeted: Summer 2026 – Summer 2027)

Each phase addresses specific readiness needs, while ensuring continuous alignment with the hospital’s operational and clinical objectives. In the first phase, Angus Connect worked closely with DCDH leadership and operational teams to establish a solid foundation for the hospital’s operational readiness. This involved educating key stakeholders about the process and their roles, facilitating workshops to develop a master schedule that aligned project milestones with hospital priorities, and assessing the organization’s preparedness for operational readiness planning. A comprehensive Operational Readiness Project Charter was created, outlining governance structures, planning assumptions, risk management strategies, and stakeholder engagement approaches.

The tailored operational readiness framework was a core deliverable, providing DCDH with tools, templates, and checklists to guide clinical and non-clinical program readiness. This framework addressed key elements such as change management, workflow redesign, human resource planning, equipment strategies, and emergency measures planning. A Gap Analysis was conducted to assess current clinical offerings and identify areas that required specialized resourcing for the transition. The findings were used to develop Change Maps that identified areas where large changes were going to take place. Examples of these are technology and equipment changes that could transition a hospital from manual paper-based workflows to integrated digital systems.

Our team conducted patient journey mapping for clinical departments and materials mapping for non-clinical operations for a clear understanding of new logistics and process flows. Training requirements identified fed into the development of the Orientation, Training, and Education Tracker, a tool designed to identify all mandatory training and orientations for the hospital.

To align each department’s readiness with the broader operational goals, we facilitated a corporate opening day view session with program leaders to define future-state requirements, develop and confirm service delivery models, and identify inter-departmental dependencies. The outcomes provided a foundational understanding for all clinical and non-clinical departments on what First Patient Day would look like.

Phase 2 focuses on the development and implementation of detailed operational readiness work plans for all programs, services, and subcomponents. These plans address the gaps between the current and future operational states, breaking down desired plans into necessary tasks. The phase involves workflow and process redesign, clinical model of care planning, equipment planning, risk management, emergency measures, and internal and external communication strategies.

Angus Connect also provides strategic guidance on ICAT and equipment planning, supports early visioning for Departmental Opening Day Views, and facilitates a risk workshop to identify challenges and mitigation strategies. Phase 3 will include the development of Transition Plans for activities leading up to Opening Day, ensuring the hospital is fully operational and supported until after three months post-occupancy.

Our team’s operational readiness support sets the stage for successful implementation of all phases of the project, providing DCDH with a clear, structured path to achieving full operational capacity in the new hospital.