New High Acuity Unit at St. Paul’s completed

The newly constructed High Acuity Unit (HAU) at St. Paul’s Hospital recently welcomed its first patients in late 2020, supporting the ICU to accommodate the needs of patients who do not require intensive care but are not able to recover within a conventional medicine ward.

The creation of the acute care ward provides a six-bed unit with a Nurse Station, two patient washrooms (one with a shower), a soiled utility room and a clean storage room.

The project required a multi-phased approach with strategic moves to free-up space for the construction of the new HAU, while maintaining continual service throughout the entirety of the project. This was critical due to the location of the HAU between the ICU, CICU, NICU and Maternity wards.

Location and limiting the amount of disruption to the surrounding wards was  the greatest challenge of the project, with this area considered the most sensitive within the entire hospital in terms of construction.

The HAU location is “land locked” and there are inherent challenges with dust control, access to the exterior of the hospital for negative air pressure exhaust requirements, re-directing critical patient flow, access routes for Code Blue response teams, maintaining security access, especially with the Maternity ward and limited working hours so as to not disturb patients in surrounding wards.

Check out our other healthcare projects, including the North Shore Hospice expansion.