The Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan came one step closer to reality Tuesday with the announcement the hospital’s detailed design plan had received provincial government approval.
The plan built on the early design approved last July but included added details such as patient and family room set ups throughout the hospital.
The design team consulted with doctors, staff, and families to create a “patient first” design. The process also included a provincial imitative where the team gathered information from children, teens, and families through classroom and mail-in design activities, online surveys, and an open house.
"I think it's amazing how what we heard the kids say was we want this to feel like home. They want to feel comfortable and have privacy and that's something we worked hard to achieve,” said Jackie Mann, vice-president of integrated health services for the Saskatoon Health Region.
Tara Johnson has spent more time in the hospital with her daughter than at home, and she was part of the design team. Johnson said the hospital will have what families need.
"It doesn't look like a sterile antiseptic environment anymore,” she said. "The new hospital is going to be more uplifting and more conducive to these children healing and these families healing. Because it’s not just the child who is sick and hurting; a lot of the time the family is sick and hurting too."
The design isn’t complete, and the teams are still working to move it forward. The final medical, structural, and electrical details need to be added to give contractors the details they need to turn the plans into a reality.
Construction is set to being in early 2014, with a completion date set for late 2016.
