Design for Safety & Healing: How simulation helped shape Sunnybrook’s new Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre

Long before the new Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Centre opened its doors for patients at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in January, planning for the first-of-its-kind brain and mental health-care space started with patients and families. The goal was to create an environment that prioritizes healing, safety and operational efficiency. With a focus on treating mental and physical health as one, the Hurvitz Centre treats some of the most complex brain disorders, including stroke, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and ALS, as well as mood and anxiety disorders.

“We had the Patient and Family Advisory Council at the design table from day one,” says Anton Krish Rabindran, director of capital development at Sunnybrook, who oversaw the construction of the new building.

The council brought valuable insight to the design of the building, and how the space would recognize the unique needs of patients’ health and wellbeing. To validate these insights, Sunnybrook invited another key group to the table: the Sunnybrook Canadian Simulation Centre. From the early design phases, their involvement ensured an impactful, collaborative co-design of the Hurvitz Centre that balances patient experience with clinical safety.

“Creating a mental health and brain sciences space of the caliber of the Hurvitz Centre requires more than meeting building codes,” says Agnes Ryzynski, director of the Sunnybrook Canadian Simulation Centre. “It demands a thoughtful, patient-centered approach that begins with simulation”

With more than 120,000 square feet over three storeys, the Hurvitz Centre contains 47 private inpatient beds, including 28 adult inpatient rooms, nine psychiatric intensive unit rooms and 10 youth inpatient rooms. The centre also has outdoor green spaces, common areas for eating and gathering, and a gym. While these features promote wellness and social interaction, they also have the potential to introduce new challenges for staff communication and emergency response, due to long corridors, multiple floors and new technologies.

From the earliest design stages, Sunnybrook Canadian Simulation Centre played an essential role guiding the process that thoughtfully considered routine care and rare emergency situations, safeguarded patient dignity and privacy, strengthened team communication, and maintained staff safety and wellbeing. Using simulation as a design tool promoted collaboration across all stakeholders and active involvement from interprofessional teams to test new systems, workflows and technologies using real-life scenarios.

“Engaging our colleagues at the Simulation Centre early in the construction of our new inpatient mental health unit proved incredibly valuable,” says Jackie Griffin-White, the patient care manager for mental health inpatient services at Sunnybrook. “Their involvement alongside unit staff, Code Blue responders, anesthesia and others not only helped identify safety risks and inform design decisions in the mock-up patient room, but also across other key areas of the unit.”

Over the course of building construction, two phases of high-fidelity simulations were conducted to uncover safety risks and workflow challenges. The first was validating the architectural design within a mock-up space. This led to suggested modifications like redesigning the resuscitation cabinets, use of anti-barricade patient doors and safe bed positioning.

The second phase focused on validating processes and protocols in the real environment before patient occupancy. Additional modifications were highlighted in areas such as transport, security, communication, wayfinding and emergency response. Where structural changes weren’t feasible, potential risks within the space were mitigated through workflow adjustments, training and appropriate signage.

One of the final exercises before the Hurvitz Centre opened was simulating the day that inpatients would move into the new building through a mock patient transfer exercise. The teams ran through two different scenarios, including simulating different emergency codes that could happen during the move and testing responses to those situations to keep patients and staff safe.

“Their input directly influenced changes to both the physical design and workflow, ensuring that spaces were optimized for safe, efficient and patient-centered care,” Jackie adds. “These simulations had a significant impact on our work by bridging the gap between planning and the reality of clinical practice, ultimately leading to a safer and more functional environment for both patients and staff.”

The Sunnybrook Canadian Simulation Centre is accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. The Centre enhances training, improves overall safety, efficiency and interdisciplinary collaboration of health-care services within Sunnybrook at beyond.