by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
As Mother Nature offered up a wonderful bout of late-summer sunshine this past September, a group of healthcare providers, suppliers, designers, and others convened in Hackensack, New Jersey, to examine the ecological status of our healthcare system. The result was a...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
With the release of three reports by the Institute of Medicine early last summer, the rest of America learned what those of us in the healthcare industry have known for some time: Emergency departments are in a nationwide crisis. The product of a two-year analysis of...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
The nurses’ station is the fulcrum of activity on the inpatient hospital floor. At some point, virtually every hospital function intersects at this critical junction, often simultaneously, via impromptu meetings among a wide cross-section of hospital staff. This...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
An estimated 75% of healthcare construction projects involve an expansion or renovation of an existing hospital. The healthcare construction industry is currently experiencing tremendous growth because of advancing technology, outdated healthcare facilities, an aging...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
Healthcare design has undergone rapid changes in just a few short years, with a renewed focus to improve not only the overall healthcare experience for the patient, but also staff satisfaction. Design and construction trends in newly constructed hospitals and...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
Safety of patients and medical personnel is a hot button of concern among healthcare institutions. Patient falls, infection control, medication errors, and errors made during patient hand-offs are just a few of the areas of focus. Particular attention is being paid to...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
In 2004, the United States spent more than $16 billion for hospital construction, an amount that is forecasted to rise to more than $20 billion by 20101 A significant proportion of this construction is for ambulatory facilities, marking a major shift from a focus on...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
Integrated operating rooms (I-ORs), when optimally designed, can lessen the complexity of the most complicated environment in the hospital—the surgery suite. User-friendly, integrated technologies augment surgeons’ skills and help the entire surgical team work...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
Richard Florida’s book, The Rise of the Creative Class, develops the idea that people in their middle and older ages want a continuing lifestyle of stimulating amenities and cultural opportunities. The challenge for those in aging-related housing and services is...
by HCD Guest Author | Nov 1, 2006 | News
I couldn’t understand why an important hospital like Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis would hang abstract art in its halls, waiting rooms, and patient rooms. I was confused by it, and so was my 85-year-old mother, who had been admitted for Non-Hodgkin’s...
