Redevelopment Update: Life-size Mockups

This summer, more than 150 hospital staff, medical staff and redevelopment project team members were able to test life-size cardboard (referred to as mock-ups) and virtual reality models for a number of spaces included in Phase One of Burnaby Hospital’s redevelopment. Burnaby Hospital Foundation and a few leadership donors also took the opportunity to tour the space and learn more about the design process for the redevelopment.

These mock-ups are an important step where clinical staff are able to provide useful feedback on placement of equipment, doors, and outlets, proximity to other spaces, movement within spaces and a number of other concerns. Staff ran through simulations where they navigated real scenarios and used the mock-up spaces as if they were providing medical treatment. While designers and architects bring in a level of expertise, it is the frontline staff who will be using the spaces every day, so their input is of utmost importance. The mock-ups also give staff a chance to feel out the new spaces and spark innovation, where they are able to begin to see how processes and innovation can be improved.

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With no major renovations in the last 40 years, Burnaby Hospital has reached its capacity. The hospital is one of the busiest in the Fraser Health Authority region, seeing approximately 200,000 patients a year, including 83,000 visits to the emergency department. Facilities that were constructed to serve a small community now support a growing and aging population of 500,000 people in East Vancouver and Burnaby.

The first phase of the redevelopment includes the construction of a new six-floor Keith and Betty Beedie Pavilion and adds the space needed to grow and improve surgery services, create a new maternity centre, and build a new mental health unit. Included in this phase are the new Jim Pattison Surgery Centre and upgrades to the Burnaby Community Emergency Department.

The existing Support Facilities Building will be also be expanded and renovated to accommodate more patients and improve patient flow. Construction of the first phase is set to be completed as soon as 2025 and, once finished, the transformation will have an immediate and future impact on patients, staff, and the surrounding community as a whole.