Surgeons are clamoring for more operating rooms, and larger ones, to boot. Existing ORs are often in need of a major overhaul, and the luxury of new construction is rarely in the cards. What can you do to make renovation and expansion of the operating suite efficient and cost effective? Existing infrastructure, portable technology, and a trend toward hybrid ORs can all work to a facility’s advantage, as project teams dissect and reassemble the most revered real estate in any hospital.
Each year in the United States, roughly 1.7 million cases of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) cause an average of 99,000 deaths and cost hospitals around $20 billion, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.
The majority of the literature on this subject focuses on how nursing and physician practices can reduce these rates; however, building environment conditions play a role, too. From design to maintenance, engineering can help prevent HAIs and ultimately improve patient health and satisfaction.
The days of healthcare staff locker rooms decked out with mismatched chairs and rickety tables are long gone. Rather, providing a comfortable setting for workers has become a priority that’s made its way to the top of ownership’s priority lists, all in an effort to punch up staff productivity as well as recruitment and retention.
The trend has translated to a number of design demands, from break rooms that look more like business-class lounges to nurses’ stations designed to support an optimal work environment.
I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of “appropriateness” lately. It started when I toured the latest Pebble Project, WellStar Paulding Hospital in Hiram, Ga., that opened a few months ago. I left there with a lot of thoughts tumbling around in my head, but it took me some time to sort through them and figure out why the project had stuck with me the way it did.
Dramatic changes to the physical environment at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s West 5th Campus in Ontario, Canada, required a comprehensive readiness strategy well before the operational transition between old and new.
Evidence-based design is driving best practices in the U.S., but can we expect similar outcomes when research conducted here is applied abroad? This is an important question to start answering given the large number of healthcare projects around the world being designed by American firms.
As a healthcare interior designer working with an integrated team of architects and medical planners, I often begin a patient unit project by meeting with clients, caregivers, and user groups to map existing operational processes and identify opportunities for improvements. The goal is to streamline caregiver workflow, resulting in increased bedside care and improved patient outcomes.
But how do we know our design solutions accomplish improved care and delivery?
To keep up with the pace of medical advancements, healthcare institutions are upgrading to the newest technology and renovating their physical settings to accommodate the purchase of new state-of-the-art equipment.
Like many other spaces within hospitals and healthcare facilities, patient bathrooms are being re-evaluated with an eye on comfort, inspiring a wealth of new approaches to design that create a homelike and even hospitality-like environment.
But despite these measures, one fact holds true: Safety is still king.
During the recent challenging economic period and current era of healthcare reform, U.S. health systems and hospitals have shown limited appetite for large-scale acute care facility development as they reposition their organizations.
Consequently, many healthcare design firms looking to maintain their revenue base during this period have rapidly expanded their international reach to offset reduced domestic activity.
There are hundreds of buildings constructed every year that require mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technology systems (MEPT). These buildings are designed by architects, the MEPT systems are designed by engineers, and both are built by an assortment of construction trades, inspected by code officials and accreditation agencies, and typically require individuals with various levels of knowledge to maintain and operate them.
