In this series, Healthcare Design asks leading healthcare design professionals, firms, and owners to tell us what’s got their attention and share some ideas on the subject.
Jennifer Aliber is a principal at Shepley Bulfinch (Boston and Phoenix). Here, she shares her thoughts on healthcare-acquired infections, the rise of 3-D printers in medicine, and the convenience of clinic care.
1. Healthcare in the media
The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center (Oklahoma City, Okla.) welcomes young patients and their families to its campus with a scene comprising 12 kites and three bronze sculptures of children at play.
The 140-foot-long piece, titled “Spirit,” is the work of Omaha, Neb.-based sculptor Matthew Placzek and took 14 months to complete.
From the opening session at the Healthcare Design Academy on “Five Takeaways to Share with the C-Suite,” to the closing session on “The ‘Real’ Retailing of Healthcare,” the message was clear: healthcare providers and the teams that design their spaces need to keep changing and adapting in order to survive.
In this series, Healthcare Design asks leading healthcare design professionals, firms, and owners to tell us what’s got their attention and share some ideas on the subject.
After the opening of The Royal London Children’s Hospital in 2012, Vital Arts, the arts organization for Barts Health NHS Trust, spent two years working to turn the hospital’s blank walls into a showcase of fun, creativity, and positive distractions for its patients. Five wards in the 130-bed hospital, which is run by the trust, now feature works from a range of commissioned artists and designers.
I recently spoke with Susan B. Frampton, president of Planetree Inc. (Derby, Conn.), on the evolution of patient-centered care, how the concept is taking off around the globe, and how the 30-plus-year-old organization has adapted and evolved its mission to continue promoting better healing environments. (You can find the full Q&A here.)
Behavioral health patients who are ready to leave an inpatient facility but aren’t quite ready to move back home don’t have many options.
Last fall, Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez, Calif., addressed that issue by opening Hope House, a county-owned crisis residential facility for adults ages 18 to 59.
These days, Susan B. Frampton, president of Planetree Inc. (Derby, Conn.), finds herself packing a suitcase a lot. Her 2015 calendar is booked with business trips, including a nine-day stay in China to visit a group of hospitals interested in the nonprofit’s educational services and methodology for creating better healing environments.
Hospitals play a large role in the physical, social, and economic vitality of their communities. But HKS’s Shannon Kraus, principal/senior vice president, and Lindsey Waters, LEED Green Associate and healthcare and urban designer, think they can do more.
The HCD 10: David Grandy, Rising Star (Under 40)
David Grandy, FACHE, CMPE
Associate vice president and managing director of strategic innovation, HDR (Omaha, Neb.)
Who they are: While it took a coalition of community and business leaders to bring a new public safety-net hospital to Indianapolis, two individuals stand at the forefront of that movement: Matthew Gutwein and Dr. Lisa Harris. Gutwein serves as president and CEO of Health & Hospital Corp. of Marion County, the parent organization to Eskenazi Health; Harris has been practicing medicine at Eskenazi Health for more than 30 years and was named CEO in 2004. The two joined forces in 2009 to lead a campaign seeking voter approval for a new hospital campus.
Whittington Health Trust (London) recognized that demand for acute services was rising among the 500,000 people in its service area. Based on this need, and the focus by the NHS on integrated care, Whittington decided to use the opportunity to build a new ambulatory care center adjacent to its existing hospital that would expand its same-day treatment capabilities, improve the patient and staff experience, and bring departmental disciplines closer together.
