ORANGEVILLE, ON – May 30, 2019 – Headwaters Health Care Centre is pleased to announce the local firm, Dickinson + Hicks Architects Incorporated (Dickinson + Hicks) has been awarded the contract to provide detailed design for the new Welcome Centre Program at Headwaters Health Care Centre.
“Feedback from recent community consultation showed us the time is right to tackle this work,” said Stacey Daub, President and CEO. “This is another significant milestone as we move toward renovating key areas of our hospital that will help us achieve our vision of an accessible, safe and welcoming design.”
Dickinson + Hicks has been in business in Orangeville for 25 years and has completed projects throughout Ontario and across Canada. Other projects they’ve completed at Headwaters include the Headwaters Family Practice Clinic, the temporary relocation of the dialysis unit at the hospital and numerous other minor hospital renovations. Manor and Croft Design has been subcontracted to provide interior design expertise for the project.
Mark Hicks, partner and lead architect has worked with key stakeholders at the hospital – including patients, families, staff, physicians, volunteers and Headwaters Health Care Foundation to ensure their needs are met in the design for this project.
Headwaters is renovating to ensure our facilities are maintained, fully accessible, safe and functional and expand to keep pace with our communities’ needs. The hospital is seeing a larger number of patients overall. Staff now register up to 300 people daily for different appointment and procedures. We have also expanded our services in surgery and Ambulatory Care.
Headwaters is over 20 years old and is starting to show its age, especially in those areas that are frequently visited. The Emergency Department (ED) sees over 42,000 visits each year. A separate proposal to renovate the ED is waiting on Ministry of Health approval. Other areas of the hospital are part of our master plan for future upgrades.
The Welcome Centre Program will see the replacement of the main staircase, renovations to the hospital lobby which will include the café and gift shop and expansion of waiting areas. The hospital is also centralizing the registration process to the main lobby. This means a one-stop shop for patients when registering for appointments and booking or changing appointments. The hospital will also move the bill payment upstairs to this same area, making access more convenient for our patients.
Operating funds provided to Headwaters from the Government of Ontario are not used for these types of hospital renovations. Headwaters Health Care Foundation and Headwaters Health Care Auxiliary continue to support the hospital with their time, involvement and donations. The staircase replacement is being funded by the Headwaters Health Care Auxiliary, supported by Auxiliary President, Susan Fletcher.
“Funding for these renovations is made possible by the generosity of people in our community,” said Headwaters Health Care Foundation Executive Director, Dora Boylen-Pabst.
Headwaters expects to choose a preferred construction company this summer. Pre-qualified construction companies will respond to a tender issued earlier this month. Construction activities are likely to begin shortly after the tender is awarded. More details about the construction schedule will be known at that time.
A backgrounder about the Welcome Centre Program follows:
About Headwaters Health Care Centre (HHCC)
HHCC, is an innovative, community centred medium-size hospital located in beautiful Dufferin County. Headwaters offers acute and complex continuing care with 24/7 Emergency Department coverage as well as extensive outpatient services in a newly built Ambulatory Care Centre and is accredited with Exemplary Standing by Accreditation Canada. Please visit www.headwatershealth.ca for more information and a full list of services.
For further information please contact:
Jennifer Hamilton, Senior Communications & Stakeholder Engagement Partner, Headwaters Health Care Centre | Cell/Text: 519-278-5085| Email: jhamilton@headwatershealth.ca
In response to the growing needs of our population Headwaters Health Care Centre envisioned and developed a plan to renovate our main hospital lobby where we will welcome patients and visitors with a more modern, safe, fully-accessible and efficient design. This includes a streamlined registration process, supported by technology through the expansion of self-service registration kiosks as well as a new centralized registration space, immediately available as patients enter the main lobby.
Overall, features of the Welcome Centre will address every aspect of the patient experience from the time they are welcomed in our main lobby and register for an appointment through to the completion of their visit to the hospital.
The plan includes removing the spiral staircase and replacing it with one that meets current structural, accessibility and safety requirements. In the new Welcome Centre, patients will experience a one-stop-shop with respect to registration, scheduling of appointments, paying bills and parking and improved patient flow through direct access to their area of care.
Centralization of registration, admitting, appointment booking to allow our staff to use their time and expertise in registering and booking appointments. It will result in improved services and experience for patients and families. To further improve ‘customer’ service, bill payments will now be made in the same space as central registration in the main lobby.
The main lobby is a shared space where our patients and families as well as all our teams intersect including staff, physicians, Headwaters Health Care Foundation and Headwaters Health Care Auxiliary. Renovating the main hospital lobby will address safety and accessibility concerns, improve patient care and experience, provide areas of respite, provide a modern gift shop and café, re-ignite pride in our facility and incorporate the use of new technologies. It will be a modern, comfortable, fully accessible and engaging space that promotes high quality, compassionate care. The parking pay station will be relocated temporarily to the main entrance vestibule for the duration of construction.
Building a staircase that meets today’s structural, safety and access standards will significantly reduce the risk to all who use our facility. The staircase will be completely replaced. While this work is underway, staff and visitors will use an alternate staircase and the elevators, to access the ground floor.
To fully transform the experience for our patients and visitors, we are also looking at the possibility of renovating the Main Hospital Entrance and the adjacent patio to provide accessible, safe design and a superior patient flow experience with improved signage and an accessible and covered patient/visitor drop off area. The patio adjacent to this space will be designed to provide a sanctuary for patients, visitors and staff, much like the patient space near the Ambulatory Care Wing. This part of the project is tentative as we explore increased funding.