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A look inside the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital

Jun 28, 2017 | 12:36 PM

A made in Saskatchewan vision come to life.

Business man and philanthropist Jim Pattison gifted the Saskatoon children’s hospital with a $50 million donation. The building will now bear his name, and some say usher in a new chapter of care in the province.

“Jim Pattison’s gift has really transformed health care for maternal and pediatric care in Saskatchewan,” Lynn Redl-Huntington, vice-president of communications for the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital (JPCH)  Foundation said.

The funds will be used to develop a research hub at the facility, to help provide long term sustainable care for children across the province. It will also be used for fellowship chair opportunities.

The 400,000 square foot hospital will house 176 beds on five occupied floors. The physical building is meant to reflect the sky and environment in Saskatchewan.

Interior designs for the facility are heavily influenced by community consultations, particularly from children and families.

Receiving feedback from the community has been a large part of the design, according to project director Craig Ayers.

“It has really been important that we have engaged families in the design of this facility and it is really a patient focused design, and I think that is something truly unique,” Ayers said.

“We have had family representatives and members of the foundation be there with us at the table as we are working through the design process and hoping to build the vision for this facility.”

This idea can be seen throughout the facility, as many of the rooms have been incorporated to allow families with ample participation with their children when undergoing treatment. Research has shown that children heal faster and feel better when their families are around.

The ground level will include pediatric emergency and surgery rooms. Dedicated pediatric surgery suites and induction rooms will also be on this floor. The induction and surgery rooms are designed to create calming environments for children. The rooms will have options to create variable colours on the walls.

Where curtains are common today, frosted doors and walls will enclose individual rooms. This allows for greater infection control, privacy and softer acoustics.

The main floor will include reception and lobby areas, pediatric outpatient areas and other amenities. A spiritual reflection room and the first therapeutic play area for kids will also be on this floor.

The second floor will house inpatient units, observation units and the only pediatric intensive care unit in the province. The first pediatric sleep lab to keep patients for sleep study treatments will be on the second floor, and also an outdoor play area.

The third floor will accommodate all maternal care needs on one floor. Allowing mothers through labour, birth and stay with their children in one room.

The fourth and final floor will include the neonatal intensive care units. Each baby and family in the unit will have their own private rooms, not side by side in open bays.

Active recruitment for physicians and specialists has been ongoing. Nineteen physicians and nearly 70 per cent of the pediatric specialists it needs to staff the hospital have been hired.

The Saskatchewan government is contributing $235.5 million toward the total project cost of $285.2 million, and $21.4 million will come from interest in investments by the Saskatoon Health Region. In addition, the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital Foundation is contributing $75 million through its capital campaign.

Construction on the hospital is on schedule and edging towards the 60 per cent completion mark.

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr