Emergency room wait times can be tedious and time-consuming. The new Urgent Care Facility in Surrey is the product of British Columbia’s provincial governments overhaul to the health-care delivery system; the new care centre was a necessity. At least one-quarter of the patients visiting the emergency room at the Surrey Memorial Hospital were individuals who should have been seen by a primary health-care team (family doctor, nurse practitioner or other healthcare professional). The centre’s focal point is individuals with complex care needs: the frail and elderly, mental health and substance-use patients, as well as individuals without family doctors. It will provide diagnoses and care to people with non-emergency type conditions, requiring medical assistance, within a 12 to 48-hour time period. The centre is the fourth of its kind to open in British Columbia.

The WEC electrical and mechanical team designed the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning for the tenant space, which is provided by the base building’s distributed water source heat pump system served by a District Energy Utility (DEU) and fluid cooler. Each room with direct exposure to the outdoors as well as each group of similar interior rooms were provided with individual water source heat pumps for heating and cooling zone control. The outdoor air ventilation requirements for the tenant space is provided through a central rooftop Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV), with ducted distribution to each water source heat pump. The server room for the project was provided with a dedicated Direct Expansion (DX) split air-conditioning system for temperature control. Complete with an electric duct heater interlocked with the base building heat pump, a separate Heat Recovery Ventilator (HRV) serves the large therapy room on the ground floor. This will enable the room to be used for First Nations smudging ceremonies.

Electric hot water tanks with a recirculation system were used to provide domestic hot water to the space, to ensure timely hot water for all plumbing fixtures. The sinks and showers for patient and staff rooms were provided with thermostatic mixing valves to discharge hot water below scalding temperatures. Sinks in all exam rooms are solid surface antimicrobial, wheelchair accessible and meet the requirements of CSA Z8000. Ligature resistant plumbing fixtures, HVAC grilles and sprinklers were used in areas where patients may be unsupervised on the premise. WEC was also the Fire Suppression Engineer of Record (EOR) that performed full hydraulic calculations and drawings to address the project’s sprinkler requirements.

The electrical design included providing normal power distribution systems from the base building to the two tenant spaces. These systems provide power to receptacles, lights, clinical equipment, servers, hot water tanks, HVAC and other mechanical equipment. As no central emergency power system was available in the facility, emergency battery packs and remote emergency light heads were strategically provided throughout the tenant spaces to provide emergency lighting as per current codes. In addition, a separate circuit was provided for an owner-supplied uninterrupted power supply unit to provide back-up power to the vaccine fridge. As this is a clinical setting, the electrical receptacles for patient care areas were hospital-grade and wired to comply with CSA-Z32 requirements for retentive receptacle testing and polarity, voltage drop, grounding, and insulation integrity. The lighting design included the use of LED lights and occupancy sensors to comply with energy conservation and efficiency concepts. Special anti-ligature luminaires producing amber light were also installed in patient wash and shower rooms.

Additionally, security and access control systems were provided throughout the facility using CCTV cameras, card readers, electrified door hardware and glass break sensors. These systems were interfaced with remote monitoring to provide immediate assistance and/or responses as required. Strobe lights triggered by the activation of an emergency push button in an examination room or other areas were installed in strategic areas of the facility to indicate emergency situations. Special interfaces at the doors were installed to lock down the facility in situations critical to the safety and operations of staff and facility.

The facility has opened its doors to the public to alleviate long wait times in the emergency room while supplying and diagnosing the patient’s urgent care needs. Williams Engineering Canada is grateful to have contributed to the electrical and mechanical designs for the Surrey Urgent Care Facility, which has ultimately enhanced the surrounding Surrey community.

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Surrey Urgent Care Facility ×

Surrey Urgent Care Facility