- This event has passed.
Breaking Through Bottlenecks: Unlocking Health Capacity
Healthcare systems across Canada are experiencing parallel pressures: aging infrastructure, escalating construction and equipment costs, workforce shortages, and care models evolving faster than the facilities designed to support them. Bottlenecks in the healthcare system may manifest differently, but these challenges require shared innovative solutions across provinces and territories. It’s time to seize the opportunity with an “elbows-up” uniquely Canadian approach that brings together health leaders and experts in project design and health systems operations who are making a difference. Join Us!
This CCHF conference theme in Vancouver will focus on unlocking system capacity from various perspectives, including population health, standards and functional planning, procurement, project delivery cost controls, design that reflects evolving care models, systems-level changes that embed digital health, and more.
Conference Topics
• Understanding population health data to better cater to the health needs of the communities being served, and understanding how to leverage care facilities as an ecosystem of infrastructure rather than a singular build
• Unlocking system capacity with a ‘health hub” and spoke framework that improves patient flow, connects facilities for various levels of care and their operations within an ecosystem of care
• Optimizing infrastructure through phasing and considering cost-effective approaches of renovation
• Embedded AI and digital health as a driver of improving system capacity– not just a digital add-on
• Case studies, including the recently completed Burnaby
• Redevelopment Project going LIVE this month, and planning and design considerations for integrating the newly applied alliance model and integrating indigenous health at the University Hospital of Northern British Columbia
• Tour of Burnaby Phase 1
• Post Conference Sessions, May 6th
Post Conference Special Events
9:00 – 12:00 PM Session: Long-Term Care at a Crossroads: Delivering Affordable Capacity in a Constrained Market
Across British Columbia, LTC construction costs are approaching acute care levels—pausing projects and delaying urgently needed beds for an aging population. This affordability gap is a system pressure point, with patients remaining in acute care longer than needed, driving congestion and rising costs. This post-conference session brings together industry leaders and the BC Seniors Advocate to explore how to deliver more LTC beds efficiently, affordably, and at scale—while supporting older adults in respectful, homelike settings that balance safety, independence, and dignity.
1:00 – 3:30 PM Session: Leadership Training: Breaking out of Silos: Leadership Thinking for Complex Healthcare Systems
An interactive session led by Susanne Fox, guiding participants through mindset shifts and system-level processes to build stronger teams across organizations, while offering opportunities to connect with peers in a session created for the CCHF network. Shift from siloed to systems thinking
• Explore how mindset shapes decision-making in complex environments
• Generate new approaches to persistent challenges
• Build leadership capacity for cross-organizational collaboration
• Work creatively within constraints rather than being limited by them
Conference Objectives
• Explore capacity bottlenecks across healthcare systems and how they are being improved upon through health data analysis and using this to inform operational and process improvements, and the required health facilities to develop an ecosystem of care model
• How design and engineering optimizes the flow of patients, leveraging resources for better care outcomes
• Cross-provincial lessons in bringing projects to market faster through planning, procurement, and delivery that save time and money
• Understanding the right mix of standards dependent on the needs of the specific use of infrastructure through the planning process, so the project is not overbuilt
• Aligning facilities design with evolving models of care and workforce realities using digital health as an embedded strategy, not a digital ‘add-on.’
• Strengthening collaboration between owners, designers, engineers and constructors, owners and communities using reconfigured health services closer to the community
Background
A single bottleneck does not constrain healthcare systems, but rather a series of interconnected constraints spanning facilities, workforce, operations, and care models. While funding and staffing challenges are significant, the design of our physical and operational healthcare ecosystem (comprising facilities and digital infrastructure) plays a decisive role in either alleviating or exacerbating congestion.
When planning, design and delivery are aligned with the core business of health systems – providing timely, appropriate care in the right setting – latent capacity can be unlocked. Intentional design reduces friction for patients and staff, improves flow and strengthens confidence in the system. Poorly aligned environments, by contrast, drain teams, fragment care, and create wide service gaps.
This two-day conference brings together healthcare owners, operators, architects, engineers, constructors and policy academics and leaders to examine the real pinch points constraining capital health capacity and to share practical strategies for building smarter, more resilient healthcare systems across Canada.
Featured Speakers
Abhishek Gupta
Kasian - Principal
Lisa Dawson
ILTCCABC - President
John MacSween
Parkin Architects - Director
Mary Polak
BC Care Providers Association - CEO
Suzanne Fox
Fox Den Consulting
Dan Levitt
BC Senior's Advocate
Draft Conference Agenda
*Agenda subject to change. The conference program will include interactive sessions, panels, a reception, and a guided tour TBC. More information will be available soon!
8:00 – 8:50 AM | Networking Breakfast Network with your peers, enjoy a hot breakfast
9:00 – 9:15 AM | Opening Remarks
9:15 – 10:00 AM | Leveraging Infrastructure and Resources to Align with Increasing Healthcare Demands
Dr. Jason Sutherland, Centre for Health Services and Policy (CHSPR), University of British Columbia, School of Population Health
This talk will lead with a compelling rationale for re-thinking structures and processes in healthcare. Then, governments’ priorities will set the stage for needed reforms across the delivery systems’ siloes. The talk will conclude with discussion of opportunities for reform in all sectors of healthcare delivery.
10:00 – 10:30 AM | Break
10:30 – 11:15 AM | Rising to the Challenge: Identifying Opportunities in New Care Models to Meet Future Needs
Dr. Gavin Wardle, Preyra Solutions Group Consultants
Mélanie Potvin, Executive Lead, Planning and Business Development, Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, Ontario
Demand and cost increases over the next 20 years are projected to exceed what the Canadian healthcare system can accommodate in its current form. Addressing these pressures while preserving the nation’s commitment to universality will require major reforms in health service financing, organization, and delivery. Using population-based analysis, taking system and organizational perspectives, and raising facility planning implications, this session will describe how fast rising demands can be met with new care models. Given the high stakes, overcoming barriers and exercising effective leadership to incorporate bold changes into plans will be discussed.
11:15 – 12:15 PM | Facilitated Group Discussions from Acute Lens to System Design and Capital Alignment – Easing the Pressure, Improving Care
– Redesigning the patient journey based on congestion points
– Identifying the misalignments
– Moving from the concept of ED being full to why does the ED exist as the default intake mechanism?
12:15 – 1:15 PM | Lunch
1:15 – 2:30 | Integrating New Technologies into Planning and Design to Improve Space Utilization at Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto
Akira Jones, Director, Digital Services, H.H. Angus
Carol Robinson, Patient Care Manager
Garry Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto (joining virtually)
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC), Toronto, in partnership with HH Angus, is using near real-time occupancy intelligence to optimize new clinical fit-outs and existing infrastructure. The initiative began with pilot deployments in high-demand legacy spaces, where discreet sensors revealed underutilized areas, scheduling mismatches, and operational bottlenecks—enabling measurable improvements without major capital investment.
Building on this success, SHSC integrated 3D stereo-optic occupancy sensors into the Barzakay Brain Health Clinic and Cipriano Clinic. Connected to the Angus Remote Management System (ARMS), these sensors provide data on exam room utilization, peak demand, and scheduling trends. Findings show that even purpose-built clinics benefit from continuous occupancy intelligence, enabling more precise scheduling, improved patient flow, and better alignment of staff and space.
Together, these initiatives demonstrate a scalable, evidence-based approach to enhancing patient experience, optimizing resources, and future-proofing healthcare facilities.
Key Learning Objectives:
– Describe how near real-time occupancy data improves utilization in legacy and new spaces.
– Identify strategies for applying sensor-based analytics to support planning.
– Assess how occupancy intelligence enhances patient flow and resource alignment.
2:30 – 3:15 PM | Connecting Digital Health to Capital Delivery: From Add-On to Foundational
Hamidreza Eslami, Director, Data Science, Fraser Health Authority
Mathieu Lebreton, Interim Director – Biomedical Engineering & New Campus Development Digital Experience, The Ottawa Hospital
Jennifer MacGregor, President, Elewana Advisory
Digital health is no longer an add-on to healthcare facilities – it’s a foundational component that shapes how care is delivered, experienced, and scaled. Yet across many projects, digital systems are still introduced too late in the capital planning and design process, resulting in misalignment, inefficiencies and missed opportunities.
We convened a panel of digital health experts directly involved in capital project delivery to explore how embedding digital from the start can unlock capacity, improve patient flow, and future-proof healthcare environments. Panellists will share real-world case studies and system-level insights, including:
– Sharing global leading-edge projects where Digital health is embedded from the “front door” of the hospital and demonstrating how integrated digital strategies are reshaping patient access, virtual care pathways and operational models
- Fraser Health Authority’s progress and successful embedding of digital services in the planning and design phases across a large complex regional system
– Lessons from The Ottawa Hospital: Navigating Ontario’s project delivery frameworks while advancing digital health program integration
3:15 – 3:45 PM | Break
3:45 – 4:20 PM | Unlocking Capacity in a Phased Master Plan Based on Community Needs
4:20 – 5:00 PM |
5:00 – 6:30 PM | Networking Reception at JW Parq Marriott
8:00 – 8:50 AM | Networking Breakfast Network with your peers, enjoy a hot breakfast
8:50 – 9:15 AM | Welcome and Introductions
9:15 – 10:15 AM | Panel: Where Do We Go From Here? Addressing Project Cost Control In Healthcare Projects
Tariq Amlani, Senior Health Sector Leader, Canada, Stantec
Susan Neil, President, Hanscomb Inc.
Stephen Rowe, National Health Sector Lead, HDR
Ian McDermott, Vice-President, Sinai Health, Toronto
Kieran McDonald, Partner, Agnew Peckham (Moderator)
Jeff Good, Vice-President, Alliance and Stakeholder Engagement, Infrastructure BC
Robin Latondresse, Senior Executive Director, Major Capital Projects, Provincial Health Services Authority
Healthcare capital projects across Canada are facing unprecedented cost escalation, outpacing other sectors and placing significant strain on public funding, timelines, and system capacity. Persistent bottlenecks – from procurement inefficiencies and inflationary pressures to scope creep and misaligned planning assumptions – are delaying delivery and eroding value.
This panel brings together selected leaders from across the project lifecycle to examine the structural drivers behind rising costs and discuss practical system-level strategies to restore cost discipline. The discussion will challenge traditional delivery models and highlight opportunities to align planning, design, procurement and operations better – ultimately enabling more predictable, affordable and timely infrastructure healthcare delivery.
10:15 – 10:45 AM | Break
10:45 – 11:30 AM | Speed to Market for Health Infrastructure
Melinda Lobo, Clinical Planner and Project Manager, Parkin Architects
John MacSween, Director, Parkin Architects
Canadian health‑care organizations are increasingly challenged by affordability pressures, capital escalation, and the limits of aging and constrained hospital sites. This session features Parkin’s leadership outlining their master planning work for the future growth of Lions Gate Hospital, including the strategic evaluation of continuing redevelopment on the current constrained site versus pursuing the acquisition of a new site. The presentation will examine how contemporary business cases and traditional master plan strategies—such as building new facilities while renovating old ones—are now routinely exceeding budgets in today’s cost environment. Parkin will share how these realities reshape long‑term planning assumptions and influence decision‑making toward models that better support sustainable, scalable future care capacity.
11:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Lunch
12:30 – 1:00 PM | Case Study: Planning for University Hospital of Northern British Columbia
Sherri Tillotson, Senior Clinical Planning Officer, Northern Health
Ronald B. McIntyre, Partner, Architect, DIALOG
Planning for the northern communities of BC has unique considerations, given that communities have unique needs and meeting location challenges. Learn from the planning and design leaders the approaches that will integrate communities’ care needs for generations.
1:30- 2:15 PM | Change Management Through Spatial Design: Applying Workplace Strategy to Healthcare Transformation
Ian McDermott, Vice President, Facilities and Capital Development, Sinai Health
Susan Chang, Executive Vice President, Workplace Design Advisory, JLL Design
Americas Healthcare transformation extends beyond clinical and technological changes—it requires strategic integration of physical space as a powerful change management tool. This session demonstrates how healthcare executives can leverage workplace strategy and spatial design to accelerate organizational transformation while maintaining operational excellence, with particular focus on engaging both clinical staff and physicians who often resist mandated changes. Through JLL’s workplace transformation case study at George Brown College, participants will discover how proven spatial design methodologies translate directly to hospital and ambulatory care environments, creating spaces that naturally support new workflows and care delivery models rather than imposing disruptive change.
Key Learning Objectives:
● Understand the strategic timing and impact of workplace strategy in healthcare transformation, learning why early integration of spatial planning during the conceptualization phase enables alignment between physical environment decisions and broader organizational goals rather than costly retrofitting after facility commitments.
● Develop practical frameworks for stakeholder engagement and change management that address the distinct challenges of physician culture and independence, using spatial design as a compelling tool to demonstrate operational benefits and build advocacy rather than resistance among physician communities.
● Apply actionable implementation methodologies for conducting spatial needs assessments, sequencing changes to minimize care delivery disruption, and measuring quantifiable impacts on operational performance, staff satisfaction, physician engagement, and patient outcomes to justify continued investment in workplace strategy initiatives.
2:15 – 2:45 PM | Break
2:45 – 3:30 PM | Standards: Enabling or Constraining Our System Capacity?
Gordon Burrill, Teegor Consulting Inc. (Moderator)
Westley Davidson, Chief Project Officer, Quw’utsun Valley Hospital/Quw’utsun Hulitun-ew’t-hw (Cowichan Hospital), Island Health
Craig Doerksen, Executive Director of Capital, Clinical Engineering & Facilities Management, Shared Health Manitoba
Ronald B. McIntyre, Partner, Architect, DIALOG
Standards play a key role in the safety, design and functionality of health environments. They provide a common reference point across Canada, with common space requirements for adjacencies, functional program elements, and patient, staff, and visitor safety considerations. The panel will discuss their expert perspectives on the application of health design standards and future considerations for standards at the national and regional levels.
● Consistency in application of national standards and regional standards balance (over-standardized nationally but under-standardized provincially)
● Keeping up with more flexible care models, and the impacts that can be unintentionally caused related to locking in inefficiencies
● How should standards be applied (community, virtual ambulatory) to support distributed care versus centralized infrastructure
● Standards versus innovation tension
● Are we over-applying standards to lower acuity environments, and what is the cost?
3:30 PM – 4:00 PM | The GO LIVE Super Panel Burnaby Hospital Gather insights and lessons learned from across workstreams on Phase I of the Burnaby Hospital Redevelopment project.
4:00 – 4:15 PM | Wrap Up / Conference Close
5:30 PM – 6:30 PM| Guided TOUR @ Burnaby Hospital Redevelopment – Phase 1 (Transport Provided)
Experience Phase 1 of Burnaby Hospital’s redevelopment—a project now delivering enhanced capacity and modernized care. Opened March 2026, the six-storey pavilion features 83 beds (primarily single-patient rooms), a mental-health inpatient unit with a secured outdoor patio, maternity and NICU units with dedicated family spaces, and a medicine unit equipped with negative-pressure rooms and outbreak zones.
The expanded support facilities building includes a larger emergency department with 23 new treatment spaces and a dedicated mental-health zone, six new operating rooms in the Jim Pattison Surgery Centre, and a state-of-the-art energy centre.
This tour offers a firsthand look at integrated design, infection control innovation, and scalable infrastructure—the first phase of a multi-year campus transformation.
Promotional Partners & Learning Units Providers
