Cutting-Edge Design makes for Cutting Edge Emergency Departments at the Glen

The only hospital in Quebec and one of only two in Canada to use a linear design for its Emergency
 
As the only hospital in Quebec and one of only two in Canada to use a linear design for its Emergency Departments (ED), the pediatric and adult EDs at the Glen Campus will be as cutting-edge as they come.
 
A linear or accordion design separates the flow of patients and family members from staff, allowing for a more efficient work flow, greater privacy and confidentiality, greater visibility of patients by staff, and ease of wayfinding. It also allows for optimal staffing because the ED can expand and contract to accommodate changing patient and staff numbers over the course of any 24-hour period. An accordion design also allows for gradual increases or decreases in the number of stretcher and exam rooms open at any given time. As Dr. Jean-Marc Troquet, Chief of the Department of Emergency Medicine, says “we’re using the opportunity to create new processes that will make us more efficient.” 
 
The central core of the ED design is where staff works. It is an open area adjacent to the treatment rooms that allows personnel to visually monitor patients as well as see and interact with each other and provide assistance as needed (sliding glass doors allow for clear sight lines into the treatment rooms). Since the clinical work area is separate from the patient and family zones, interdisciplinary collaboration and teaching are enhanced. 
 
Improved functionality can be seen in the exam rooms too. According to Dr. Harley Eisman, Medical Director - Pediatric Emergency at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the rooms are multi-purpose and supplies and equipment will be brought to the patient. “This will improve flow and allow patients to stay in one place, maximizing privacy and helping to keep the patient and their family calm.” 
 
However, both doctors caution against thinking that this will solve the problem of wait times in ERs, “we still have a maximum capacity that must be respected, and we still have to work on better interaction with ambulatory services like CLSCs” says Dr. Eisman, but with a more streamlined ER, the time it takes to actually process a patient and decide what care needs to be administered may be faster. 
 
The new ED design at the Glen Campus is one of the most modern in the health care system and one that is sure to promote improved care.