HOSPITAL DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
Left: The
ergonomics had to be tested and proven in detail.
Below: While surgeons are working in the lab, they are also teaching other professionals across the globe how to perform the work.
team players, the design-build team of Dineen Construction and Kearns Mancini Architects was selected to deliver the project. It was completed in less than 12 months. “COVID shut down elective
An ex vivo lung perfusion procedure in progress in one of the ‘mini-ORs’.
surgeries,” explained Keith Button. “The ORL project freed up one of the ORs they were using for a jerry-rigged version of the regeneration lab. Time was tight. We had to do the work as fast as we could so the additional OR could be used to deal with the surgical backlog created by COVID.” The greatest concern for surgeons was headroom. A lot of equipment on articulated arms is hung from the ceiling in a typical OR. There needed to be enough clearance so that the equipment did not clash; however, ORs normally have a 10 to 12-foot ceiling height. The rooms being renovated for the regeneration lab did not have more than eight feet of headroom. The design-build team had to work with the manufacturers of the lighting and equipment booms to have the least possible depth for equipment overhead. “Because we are the biggest teaching facility in
Canada, and probably ranked highly in North America in teaching, we have about 1,700 to 1,800 fellows that we
teach,” explained Christopher Rizzo. “As we’re doing all this stuff, we’re teaching doctors from all over the world so they can take it back to their place, where they live (and) work.”
High-definition video recording The ORL is a laboratory and a studio at the same time. What you see in the OR is a large light fixture with high- intensity lighting for work over the organ. Everything in the room is done under high-definition video recording, so it can be viewed anywhere as it is happening. A 4K high-resolution camera built into the light fixture is centred perfectly over the surgeon’s table. There are microphones and speakers all over the ceiling. While surgeons are working in the lab, they are also teaching other professionals across the globe how to perform the work. “One of the biggest aspects was to put in a dedicated medical-grade air-handling unit to provide the air changes that were required for an ultra-sterile environment,” explained Christopher Rizzo. “The islet room is considered on par with a
pharmaceutical lab,” added Keith Button. “It requires 40 air changes an hour. The bio-hood in that room worked in reverse. They are dealing with cell cultures. Normally a hood would be protecting you, but here the hood was protecting what was in the hood from you. The room must be HEPA filtered and positively pressurised. So, the mechanical systems were enormous – a completely independent system.” These two labs had to remove pathogens. Most organs are worked on within a glass box so they are not exposed to the room proper. They are within their own environment, but the rooms must be ultra-sterile.
46 Health Estate Journal November 2024
Photo used courtesy of University Health Network
Photos used courtesy of Tom Ridout
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
