If you ever doubted that universities are the perfect incubator for innovative ideas and forward-thinking solutions to global issues, you need only look to Arizona State University to see what a group of energetic, entrepreneurial students have created.
With a handful of exceptions that are still in various phases of construction (including the Parkland project, and a few others), it seems that the days of the mega-million dollar hospital project have for the most part become a relic of a bygone age.
In case you haven't heard, the Cleveland Clinic is branching out. Under the visionary leadership of President and CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove, the world-renowned health system has bucked recent trends by building, expanding, and renovating facilities at a rate that is putting much of the rest of the country in the rearview mirror.
When HEALTHCARE DESIGN recently took a short drive to Marymount Hospital, a Cleveland Clinic facility, I had a small nagging feeling as I stood in the parking lot. Having driven past the hospital many times, I just couldn’t seem to remember exactly what the front of the building had looked like a few years ago before the construction began. Yet it still felt familiar.
Our clients often have great vision and concurrently develop executable plans, but they often fail when it comes to effectively sharing that vision down through the organization.
If the strategy does not cascade through the organization and each team and functional area is engaged in a meaningful way, the plan is more likely doomed for failure.
Recently, I was privileged enough to be given a sneak preview of one of Practice Greenhealth's latest projects–a Virtual OR tour, created as part of the group's Greening the OR initiative. Practice Greenhealth has created an online, experiential “virtual tour” of the ideal green operating room, allowing users to investigate features at their leisure, wherever and whenever it is most convenient for them.
When it comes to designing and building a healthcare facility project, the architect, contractor, and owner most often share the same end goals: to complete the job on time, within budget, and in conformance to the plans and specifications.
So if the project team members’ goals start out the same, why don’t the results always turn out that way?
It’s a common sight: a press release written by a PR agency or the marketing department of a healthcare facility announcing a new healthcare project. There are all sorts of details in the release: size of the project, square footage, cost, location, services offered in the facility, etc.—everything except who planned, designed, and will build the facility.
Simply put, translational health science refers to the process of moving scientific discovery into clinical application. The goal is to create better patient outcomes by accelerating the translation of basic science discoveries into effective therapies, and, ultimately, to extend these novel approaches or therapies into the community for improved health.
The recently concluded 2012 edition of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering of the American Hospital Association International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design, and Construction (commonly known as the ASHE PDC Summit) marked my fourth time attending the event, and I can honestly say that even now, more than 48 hours after leaving Phoenix, I am not entirely sure what to think.
The history of the Whittier Street Health Center (WSHC) in Boston, Massachusetts, is grounded in its constant commitment to the needs of the community that surrounds it. From its origins as a well baby clinic in 1933, WSHC may have changed addresses a few times through the years but not its mission. The recent opening of its permanent home on Tremont Street heralds a new chapter for the center and the fulfillment of the community’s dream.
