Largest Emergency Care Department in North of the Netherlands

Medical Centre Leeuwarden (MCL) is the top clinical training hospital of the province of Friesland and has locations in both Leeuwarden as well as Harlingen. When visits to the Emergency Care Department in Leeuwarden increase to such an extent that the facility no longer fulfils the requirements, MCL decides to increase the capacity of this department as well as that of the General Practice Centre by 2015, by way of a new construction.

IMPROVED QUALITY BECAUSE OF NEW CONSTRUCTION

It is more simple and less costly to build a new construction than to convert an existing building. On top of this, a new construction also provides MCL with the opportunity to improve the quality of their facilities: with more privacy for patients, and workplaces which are suitable for both basic emergency care as well as complex care in critical situations. At the same time, one can tackle a number of problems, such as the poor visibility of the building for visitors and the potentially dangerous crossing routes of ambulances and visitors. Initially the design will be limited to one level, later the building can be expanded with three additional floors.

Temporary accommodation

In order not to jeopardise the functioning of the Emergency Care Department during construction, the doubly-sized new construction will be built adjacent to the existing Emergency Care Department, on the location of the demolished building of Revalidatie Friesland (Rehabilitation Friesland). The General Practice Centre will be temporarily housed in an emergency facility. After the completion of the new construction, the Emergency Care Department can be moved and the subsequent vacant part of the existing building will be converted to, among other things, a General Practice Centre. Following this, the temporary General Practice Centre accommodation will be demolished.

Cooperation in case of triage

In the new building, ideal cooperation between the Emergency Care Department and the General Practice Centre is possible because the triage (assessment of the nature and severity of the necessary care) takes place immediately at the entrance of the Emergency Care Department. Based on this triage, the patient receives a referral to Emergency Care or General Practice.

Improved Access

The entrance to the Emergency Care Department also functions as the night entrance of the hospital. In order to increase the recognisability of the new building for the visitor, the overhang at this entrance will have the same design as the one at the main entrance of the MCL. The layout and location of the new construction also make for a better and safer routing. In the new situation, the visitor drives from the public road to the Emergency entrance in a straight line. The ambulances, on the other hand, take the bus lane to the eastern side of the building. This way, there is no longer a case of crossing routes.