Jennifer Silvis

It’s heartening to see the healthcare industry not only embracing sustainable design principles, but also taking it a step further and encouraging healthy lifestyles.

Not only are patients better served in recovery when their environment provides healthy indoor air quality, natural daylight, and inspiring artwork, but the entire healthcare system benefits when medical and support staff are themselves as healthy as possible. Hospital employees who are fit and relaxed make better decisions and deliver better care to patients. 

As healthcare continues to be a polarizing national topic and obesity remains a growing epidemic, there is an increasing emphasis on employing preventive measures to attack the problem that is America’s collectively expanding waistline. And while obesity rates across the board are disconcerting, the most dismaying aspect is the increasing percentage of obese children, who are establishing a solid foundation for heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other maladies later on in life.

Characterized by its curved glass façade, the new patient tower at Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), is more than just a new facility helping consolidate women’s services for the health system. The 300,000-square-foot building has helped reorganize and renew the 48-acre LIJ medical campus.

Many organizations are talking about their work with Lean. But what does it really mean to be Lean? Is it simply a process, a sheet of paper with boxes to check off as you design and implement a plan? Or is it an ideology, a mindset that your organization has to embody?

Because there’s no recipe to follow, BSA LifeStructures has found that the only way to truly change is to dive in headfirst. We are taking steps to engrain Lean in every aspect of our design for clients and our internal operations.

Recent shifts in culture, labor, workflow, and design are challenging many of the long-held roles and criteria that dictate how healthcare facilities are developed, designed, and managed. One of the most prevalent trends taking shape as a result of these changes to the nation’s care delivery model is thoughtful reevaluation of the design of medical office buildings (MOBs) and other outpatient facilities.

The executives at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago know that art has an emotional component and an ability to transform the experience of all who visit their facility.

With the help of the design community, healthcare institutions today are planning for facilities with greater longevity, efficiency, flexibility, and a better patient and caregiver experience, all while working within greater budgetary and spatial constraints. A formidable proficiency is necessary to address healthcare project complexities and bring humanistic scale and balance to the design process.