HH Angus provided consulting engineering for all mechanical, electrical, vertical transportation, IMIT and commissioning services for this state-of-the-art 400,000 ft2, 500-bed acute care and psychiatric facility. The facility was certified LEED^® Gold, delivering a high performance building that is both sustainable and green. Innovations include rainwater harvesting, 100% fresh air with heat recovery and user-controlled environment.

Most floors in the 8-storey building have a common floor plan, each accommodating two units of 36 beds. Eighty-three are psychiatric beds designed to be converted to acute care if required. The building also includes a highly secure forensic assessment unit. Our vertical transportation work included four passenger elevators and six service elevators.

The site features a smudging room, the ‘All Nations Healing Room’. Mechanically, the room was designed with a dedicated exhaust system to extract smoke and odours during Sweet Grass and Smudging ceremonies, in addition to regular room ventilation.

Working with the rest of the design/build team, HH Angus evaluated the existing central heating plant, determining it was feasible to entirely delete an anticipated boiler/chiller plant. This significantly reduced plant size and cost while improving site-wide energy efficiencies, operating flexibility and redundancy provisions. Lighting installations included the latest LED technology, with excellent results. 

IMIT

The Patient Care Centre was British Columbia’s first truly digital hospital. With end-to-end IP-based network infrastructure, caregivers and patients are connected more reliably and securely than had previously been possible. Our design included real-time patient and equipment tracking, auto call up of patient records when staff enter a patient room, and integration of patient records onto TV sets...just some of the digital advances in patient care.

The communications systems feature reliable operation, flexibility, quality of service, convenience, and efficiency of operations. A broad variety of communications, monitoring and computer systems have been installed; for example:

• An intelligent wireless system provides support for wireless applications inside the facility and are strategically positioned to provide full coverage. To ensure reliability and uniform coverage to the entire facility, the Intelligent Wireless Access Points automatically adjust RF signal levels. The system provides full roaming.
• A wireless network infrastructure supports numerous security schemes simultaneously. Data Encryption, Secure Mobility Device and User Authentication are supported, keeping traffic private in a mobile environment.
• The security systems utilize a fully Integrated Multimedia Security Management System (IMSMS), providing a scalable, open architecture, client server-based security management solution, ideal for healthcare facilities. The Security Management System integrates the CCTV, Access Control, Intrusion Detection, Panic/Staff duress, Patient Wandering and Incident Reporting System. The IMSMS workstations allow security personnel to monitor and control all security sub-systems from a single user interface.