Runnymede Healthcare Centre

operational

Opportunity Runnymede was experiencing longer wait times as demand for its specialized continuing care services continually increased. Caring for all these patients close to home required expanding and upgrading the facilities. Runnymede Hospital’s main building first served as Strathcona Public School in 1908 and was converted to a chronic care facility in 1945, operating for almost 50 years with few upgrades. The hospital received approval for an expansion in 1987, but its future remained in limbo and it nearly closed twice over the next 20 years. Work finally began to build the new Runnymede Health Care Centre in 2007, after the Government of Ontario announced it would be redeveloped under the new Alternative Financing and Procurement model (AFP). Challenges Constructing a new four-storey building while continuing to operate in the old one, then ensuring a safe, effective transition of patients and staff. Innovations The guaranteed maximum price contract ensured that Bondfield was responsible for all coordination activities to ensure the facilities were constructed in accordance with the design. These risks that would have been borne by the public sector under traditional procurement. Bondfield was required to finance the project up until substantial completion, removing significant risk from the public sector for late delivery. Results At 180,000 square feet, the new facility is almost four times the size of the original hospital and has more than doubled their capacity from 95 to 200 beds. Enhanced clinical and medical services include physiotherapy and occupational therapy; communication, swallowing and audiology therapy; respiratory therapy; activation and recreation activities; social services; and around the clock professional nursing and medical care. Wait times for clinical and medical services have been significantly reduced. Patients may relax in two open-air courtyards and two therapeutic gardens or dine outdoors on covered terraces. The hospital also provides patients with GPS-equipped bands to alert staff when they leave the ward or wander off their floor.

High