With only general hospitals operating in the northern United Arab Emirates, 300,000-some residents of Ras Al Khaimah (RAK), Umm Al Quwain, and Fujairah had to hop on a plane or take a long drive to a larger city such as Abu Dhabi or Dubai—or even go out of the country—to seek specialized medical care.
“Patients in the northern emirates deserved a specialist hospital closer to home,” says Richard Sprow, principal of international healthcare with Perkins Eastman (New York).
Throughout the evolution of healthcare design, architects, engineers, and planners have responded to significant changes in the patient population. This has included responses to changes in demographic patterns and the changing philosophy around care and treatment.
In 1960, the U.S. Public Health Service reported that disability from immobilization was one of 10 preventable health problems and that such disability could be reduced by 50-75 percent. Decades later, immobility is still an issue and garnering even more attention in the era of healthcare reform, reimbursement, and patient-centered care.
Classified by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) as the most significant and comprehensive update since LEED’s inception, the new LEED v4 features more aggressive energy and water efficiency prerequisites and credits, and unprecedented building product reporting and disclosure requirements. Overall, healthcare designers are embracing the update, particularly the notion of product transparency.
A century ago, a doctor’s visit meant the doctor came to you and managed everything from lumps and bumps to minimal surgical procedures. Going to the hospital happened only when all other options were exhausted.
For more than a decade, the efficacy of adding therapeutic outdoor spaces to healthcare campuses has continued to gain traction among systems. While well-designed landscape elements—such as inviting building entries, healing gardens, walking trails, and vegetable gardens—can lead to better patient health, these elements can provide preventive health benefits, too.
When travelling in unfamiliar territory, it’s best to have a map in hand to guide you to your destination. The same holds true for hospital leadership when navigating a challenging economy and charting a course toward growth and development. Administrators have limited capital to invest in facilities, yet they face seemingly limitless requests for improvements. How do they decide where to allocate these finite resources to maintain, renovate, or rebuild existing structures? They need a roadmap for the future. In other words, they need to conduct a facilities assessment.
Offering refreshing solutions to projects’ specific design challenges, three of this year’s Healthcare Design Architectural and Interior Design Showcase submissions earned a Citation of Merit Honorable Mention.
Sustainability can become a key factor in reducing operating costs while maintaining quality patient care for healthcare systems.
In countries like Namibia, where the population density is the third lowest in the world, women and children must often walk for hours to the nearest clinic, wait in line to see the doctor or nurse, travel elsewhere to receive diagnostic testing and pharmaceuticals, and then make the long journey home.
Even if all goes well—the doctor is in and medicines are available—these patients, mostly unwell, still lose an entire day to this process.
Designed by William Thomas, one of Toronto’s most important 19th century architects, the Old Don Jail is a historic landmark. Built in 1864, it was the largest prison of its kind in North America—a jail that attempted to reform its inmates rather than simply incarcerate them. It was designed so that each inmate had access to daylight, heat, and ventilation.
Bridgepoint Active Healthcare's new Bridgepoint Hospital in Toronto established a number of links between patients and the community. Here are a few highlights:
