As the importance of waiting rooms pushes design to new levels with better layouts and various social experiences, healthcare facilities are also placing greater emphasis on aesthetics to up the ante.
Christine Guzzo Vickery, vice president and senior interior healthcare designer HGA Architects and Engineers (Minneapolis), says one of the key elements she emphasizes to clients is good lighting.
The patient experience is taking on a whole new level of importance for providers, as the industry shifts to a value-based service model, where outcomes and satisfaction drive reimbursements.
“Most hospitals have been focused on the back-of-house operations, where everything was about volume and efficiency,” says Michael Lied, director of healthcare, principal, GBBN Architects (Cincinnati). “Now the value is shifting to the front of the house and the customer service aspect.”
As a community hospital in Greensboro, Ga., St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital faces the challenges of remaining relevant and profitable in today’s changing healthcare marketplace, while serving the surrounding community.
The hospital’s 65-year-old facility, which was the first facility built through the Hill-Burton Act, placed constraints on its growth and success.
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.
Alicia Wachtel is vice president and regional healthcare practice leader for the Los Angeles office of HOK. Here, she shares her thoughts on retail clinics, medical office buildings, and urban healthcare planning.
1. Follow the money
Since I started covering healthcare design more than a year ago, I’ve become much more observant during any doctor's appointment or hospital visit. Basically, the concerned family member in me is asking questions about medications and growth charts while the editor in me is trying to uncover all the details that designers and architects have put into a facility.
What type of flooring did they choose? How does the layout of this waiting/family/patient/exam room add or detract from my experience? Is there access to natural light?
Facilities are engaging designers and architects to create waiting spaces that make patients and visitors feel comfortable, appreciated, and valued for their time.
James J. Peters VA Medical Center (Bronx, N.Y.), the oldest VA facility in New York City, needed to upgrade its electrical distribution system to maintain its accreditation and remain open. The project included replacing up to 400 circuit breaker panels and installing five back-up generators, and required the electricity to be turned off for different parts of the hospital for long periods of time.
“This is an exciting time for healthcare,” said Sarah Dash, research fellow, Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute, as she kicked off the first Healthcare Design Academy event of the year in Washington, D.C.
Ambulance bays connect EMS personnel and their patients to the triage area of a hospital and should be fast, safe, and efficient at getting everyone in, and out. Yet not all bays are created equal, and oftentimes they become a dumping ground for excess supplies and waste, or a holding area for backboards waiting to be cleaned before they can be used to transport patients again.
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.
With a background as a sociologist and design strategist, Lance Carlson leads the strategies practice at Taylor (Irvine, Calif.), a full-service architectural, interiors, and strategies firm. Here, he shares his thoughts on service design, brand positioning, and the merging of healthcare with other market sectors.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center completed an 80,000-square-foot multispecialty clinic in Green Township, Ohio, in 2013. The building houses nine clinics and 17 services and is designed to bring area children a comfortable and positive healthcare environment that’s close to home.
Stanford Children’s Health (Palo Alto, Calif.) is a growing community physician and sub-specialty group, developed in partnership with owner Lucile Packard Children's Hospital Stanford and the Stanford School of Medicine.
