The Leaflet Archive

Building During a Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing many industries and businesses to adapt and pivot in order to navigate the new normal. Construction is no different during these times, especially those specializing in the building of healthcare facilities. As an essential business, those providing construction services to the healthcare industry found themselves on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19. So how does one build, stay safe and adapt during a health pandemic? The answer: careful planning, collaboration, intense safety measures and dedication.

Daylighting and the New Norm for Healthcare Care Design

Proper daylighting is a fundamental component in all great buildings. It offers a window to the exterior, increases occupant productivity, and, if done properly, reduces building energy and operational costs. Studies have shown that healthcare occupancies benefit from great daylighting through decreased lengths of patient stays and more productive staff. These benefits have resulted in recommended requirements for daylighting in various patient areas by the FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction.

Keeping Exams Confidential in Clinics

Sound Control is extremely important for confidentiality in clinics. Any audible transmission between exam rooms is a major HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) violation. Thus, special care is required to eliminate sound from migrating between spaces. The following are considerations to control sound within the clinic:

Where the Personal Meets the Professional

When I graduated college, I knew I wanted to be an engineer. While it was something I was interested in since childhood, realizing that dream was just the beginning of learning what it meant to actually be an engineer in the professional world.

BRINGING PEOPLE BACK TO THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

How can space support people's safety? As millions of people around the world begin reentering spaces outside the safe confines of their homes, we have to think critically about necessary and desired behavior and interactions. What will bring them back to the built environment? How can the environment create an experience worth the risk of uncertainty?

The Future of Healthcare Construction

The recent COVID-19 crisis has altered the way healthcare construction will be considered moving forward. New and renovation projects, big and small will need to incorporate future 'patient surge' as an essential part of the planning and final build.

The Symposium - A 'Call to Action' from Now through September 2021

In the 68 years of my life, I have seen and experienced some amazing happenings - but, I have never lived through such an intense period of disruptive change as these first 6 months of 2020 have been. Of course, notwithstanding the human suffering and the tragic impact this period will have upon the future of humankind, a most unfortunate consequence of this period of change is the need to cancel the 2020 Symposium.

2020 Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo Update

It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the 33rd annual Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo scheduled for September 22-24, 2020 in Long Beach, CA will not take place. This is the first time in 33 years the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo community will not gather in the fall this is a decision we have not taken lightly.

An Alternative to the N-95 Face Mask

The Texas Center for Infectious Disease (TCID), the last specialty tuberculosis (TB) hospital left in the nation, has been receiving worldwide attention these days. Staff currently use elastomeric masks as part of its PPE when treating and caring for TB patients. Back in February TCID was part of the operation which helped house patients from multiple cruise ships that landed in San Antonio for care.

Local Designer Spurs COVID-19 Relief Effort

In a crisis, it is heartening to be reminded that it just takes a few individuals looking at things in a slightly different way to find helpful solutions hiding in plain sight.

I Need to Write

Writings from a doctor working in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES), a neighborhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The area, one of the city's oldest, is the site of a complex set of social issues including extremely high levels of drug use, homelessness, poverty, crime, mental illness, and prostitution. It is also known for its strong community resilience and history of social activism.

A Call to Action

On March 17th, the first full day of HGA's firmwide "Work from Home" directive, Kurt Spiering (healthcare sector leader at HGA) received a phone call from Ben Bruns, executive vice president for northern operations of The Boldt Company. He was asking if we would combine our talents and experience with modular and prefabricated construction to respond with facility solutions to the emerging healthcare crisis.

Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo, sponsored by Medical Construction & Design, announces 2019 Symposium Distinction Awards

The 2019 Symposium Distinction Award Winners, sponsored by Medical Construction & Design, were honored at the annual Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

Standardization of Chemistries to Improve Workflows

Healthcare facilities are losing control over the multitude of chemicals in their housekeeping closets and central storage areas. On any given day, there may be as many as seven different chemicals for different purposes, each with a unique set of instructions

The Hamilton International Arts in Health Awards 2019 Recipients

The National Organization for Arts in Health is proud to announce the following recipients of our inaugural International Arts in Health Awards Program, titled "The Hamilton" so named after the sponsoring Hamilton Saykaly Garbulinska Foundation at Blue Grass Community Foundation

Facility Projects Don't Have To Fail

News media, trade journals and white papers are filled with dire stories of capital projects that did not meet schedule, budget and/or scope targets. In short, those projects failed. At the same time, productivity in the construction industry has decreased over the last 50 years - not improved - despite major technology advances.

Getting Ready for the Third Annual National Organization for Arts in Health Conference

We're getting ready for September 2019, when the National Organization for Arts in Health will present its third annual national conference supporting the field of arts in health.

Reimagining Healthcare: A Movement Towards a Better Future

We’ve all experienced that “ah hah” moment… It’s the moment when you recognize something could be better, and you yearn for the opportunity to make it better.

For patients and clinicians, it’s often when they are in a hospital care space – the expectant mother in the middle of labor wishing she wasn’t staring at painfully slow-moving clock on the wall; the nurse wishing he could have eyes on all his patients at the same time; the ER clinician thinking “only if the experience at the front end of the ED was more streamlined, I could have more healthy conversations with mid-acuity patients in the ER…” The list continues.

Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce

If you ever have the delight of visiting the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England, just as you enter the building, you will encounter a substantial commemorative plaque with a lifesize bust of Mr. Rolls and Mr. Royce. The plaque explains that, 'on 4 May 1904, Mr. Rolls first met Mr. Royce at the Midland Hotel for lunch, and the rest is history'. Of course, no one needs the history of what happened as a result of this meeting to be explained. This historical note is extremely relevant in terms of the Symposium.

WELCOME

Residential doormats have traditionally greeted visitors into our homes with a warm and familiar ‘welcome’. The Cambridge English Dictionary definition of ‘welcome’ is: ‘to meet and speak to someone in a friendly way when they arrive’. As the founder of the Symposium, and its Special Advisor, I extend to you my most sincere and heartfelt ‘welcome’ for you to attend this year’s program.

Building smarter healthcare through better interior design

Healthcare construction, renovation or expansion projects pose a unique challenge for interior design professionals. Rather than focusing solely on what looks the best, they must prioritize design elements that advance a healthcare facility's core mission: Delivery of quality care. Here's what that looks like.

The Generative Space Award

The Generative Space Award recognizes break-through designs that improve health and healthcare. Submit your recent projects that clearly demonstrate the integration of the physical and social environments to make your community A Place to Flourish®.

Rural Healthcare Facilities Driving Industry Innovation

When you hear the phrase “innovative healthcare facility,” what image comes to mind? A large urban campus with the latest high-tech equipment? A research-focused academic medical center fostering the next medical breakthrough? While there is no question that such facilities are the sites of many healthcare advancements, we have found that rural facilities can also be fertile ground for innovative, industry-leading ideas.

Product Innovation, Design Excellence and Individuals Honored in Austin

The 2018 Symposium Distinction Award Winners were honored at the annual Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo at the Austin Convention. The Awards program recognizes design teams, projects and individuals who have made a profound contribution to the healthcare design industry. The program accepts submissions of all types and sizes of patient care-related facilities. In addition it recognizes the best and most innovative new products within the healthcare design & construction industry.

A Groundbreaking Leadership Opportunity

In Austin, at this year’s Symposium I will be conducting an innovative leadership learning intensive. It is specifically for senior level executives – all health, healthcare, and design industry stakeholders who want to dramatically improve the world of health and healthcare by advancing their leadership effectiveness.

Strategic Programming for Healthcare Facilities

Within the framework of an entire facilities project, success is often measured by the client in terms of budget, schedule, and quality--both functional and aesthetic. It is often said that owners can have it “Fast, Good, or Cheap,” and they can only pick two. However, facilities projects exist within a larger institutional context and the trade-offs that frequently occur among these success measures can have implications well beyond the project. The facilities project is not the end. Rather, it is a means to an end that serves an institution’s larger strategic plan. This often-distant strategic purpose can easily be lost in the immediacy of a project’s “Fast-Good-Cheap” design and construction decision-making

New Approaches to Planning Holistic Cancer Centers

Cancer diagnosis is often a life-changing moment for any patient. Procedures and treatments with multiple specialists can be intimidating and confusing—for both the patient and family members. As clinical procedures continue to improve, many healthcare organizations are increasingly emphasizing an overlooked but equally important aspect of cancer care—the patients’ emotional wellbeing.

Taking Virtual Care to New Places

Nearly 200 years ago, Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy pioneered a revolutionary new approach to caring for others. Rather than expecting people to come to them, they traveled outside the confines of their convent to deliver care to those with the greatest need.

The Case for Empathy Based Design

Over the course of my career as both a hospital executive and a planning and design consultant, I have been drawn to the notion of “empathy”. Three particular experiences have profoundly influenced my personal construct of empathy.

Health(care) Design 2048: Celebrating 30 years of innovation / Preparing for the next 30 years of transformation

Thirty-two years ago, when I first conceived of a Healthcare Design Symposium, my concept was unprecedented: ‘a multi-stakeholder community passionate about learning and sharing resources to create more life-enhancing environments to improve health’. By all accounts, and given its 30-year history, the response to this concept was extremely positive and – as a result – the healthcare environment, today, is VERY DIFFERENT than it was then

An Overview of LEED for Healthcare

This article breaks down and explains the seven topics that LEED for Healthcare focuses on while giving insight into what a facility must do to receive certification.

HEALTHCARE FACILITIES SYMPOSIUM & EXPO ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR ARTS IN HEALTH

NOAH will hold its first annual conference in conjunction with the 30th Healthcare Facilities Symposium and Expo on September 18 – 21, 2017, in Austin, Texas.

The Build Smart guide to BETTER HOSPITAL FLOOR PLANS

Considerations for outsourcing senior transportation

Whether you’re getting seniors to treatments and appointments or taking them on outings and shopping trips, reliable senior transportation is a core part of providing senior living services. That’s true for independent living centers, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and adult day centers alike —

The art of Emergency Department (ED) Design

Today more than ever, forward thinking healthcare systems are reimagining their facilities with an eye toward enhancing the patient experience and improving outcomes. Healthcare design in general and Emergency Department (ED) design in particular are being shaped by a more discerning public who are expecting to be placed in a supportive environment which offers them much more control of their experience. Greater individual privacy, fewer disruptions, and quicker responses create a better clinical environment for patients under circumstances that by definition are not conducive to doing so.

Designing Quieter Healthcare Environments: Smart Design Goes A Long Way

Noise and Healing Although everyone’s perception of what constitutes “noise” is different, most patients would agree that hospitals are and have always been noisy places. While the World Health Organization recommends that average patient room noise levels remain around 30 decibels, typical noise levels often hover as much as 20-30 decibels above that level.

Seven top-of-mind hospital flooring considerations

From cleanliness and accessibility to heavy wear, wayfinding and promoting a healing environment, hospitals face a unique, stringent set of challenges. The flooring is no exception. It’s a crucial part of creating a quality care setting. Below, we discuss various factors to consider when choosing flooring for your healthcare facility and how to incorporate evidence-based design into a hospital flooring plan.

Easy Access: Designing Flexible Core Labs

Every healthcare and research institution wants a flexible clinical laboratory that blends innovative technologies with LEAN principles, increasing the efficiency and quality of the work. The ideal core lab promotes collaboration and the exchange of knowledge, and is flexible and easily modified...

What’s Next???: The New Future of Healthcare Design

What first brought you to the Symposium? There are almost as many different answers to this question as there are stars in the cosmos. However, some of the more frequently heard responses to this question, are: To find out new…… (where the filling in of the dots could be – trends, ideas, products or industry leaders – for example).

10 Ways LED Lights Will Improve Your Health Care Facility

Augmented Rx

Largest Health System in Illinois an Advocate for Infant and Child Safety

Infusion Bay Design Process, How design problems become opportunities for innovation

Modern nurse call systems are capable of providing much more than nurse call

Healthcare Is a Team Sport

Four Healthcare Accelerators Changing the Game

What type of Facilities Manager are you?

Over the past few months I've met with a variety of Facilities Managers across multiple sectors in the UK, each meeting has unearthed a different approach to performing and managing their daily workloads...

Hospitals to Patients: GET OUT AND STAY OUT!

Hospitals used to love it when you came and stayed for days on end. But now with recent insurance and accountability changes, they are facing significant fines for re-admission (and the resulting public perception of poor care). They want you in and out.

Life is Uncertain. Eat Dessert First. (1)

Consider this: Are you the product of a world that has taught you to eat all your dinner first, then and only then you can have your dessert?

Anchor Health Properties Celebrates 30 Years

Anchor Health Properties is celebrating 30 years in 2015! We sat down with Paula Crowley, CEO and Lou Sachs, President, for a Q&A to reflect on the last 30 years as they transitioned from retail to healthcare development.

Designing Maternity Care for Millennial Moms

Millennials are the new moms. Time is flying, and in a few years all new mothers will be Millennials (or Gen Y). This generation is information-centric, so with limitless access to information many mothers-to-be obsess over every detail of impending motherhood, including finding the perfect place to give birth. About 99% of women in the U.S. currently give birth in hospitals, but the number opting to deliver at home or in birth centers is rapidly increasing in reaction to negative experiences, high rates of unnecessary medical interventions, lack of control, and high costs of delivering in a hospital.

One floor covering, multiple benefits for nursing staff

Nursing is the fastest growing occupation in the United States, with an anticipated 22 percent increase in the number of nursing jobs by 2018. It makes sense, then, that designers, facility managers and healthcare administrators are paying more attention to creating environments that support this portion of the workforce, looking at everything from lighting and furnishings to the floors beneath them. One flooring product in particular - rubber - is earning high marks, not only for the comfort it offers, but also for a number of other benefits that enhance the work environment in healthcare settings. This article will discuss those benefits of rubber flooring for the healthcare environment.

Out of the Shadows: Designing for Behavioral Health

In December 2014, the Huffington Post UK posted an article and accompanying cartoon which satirizes our society's prevailing misunderstanding of mental health, which is the trivialization and dismissal of such suffering. From our choice descriptors to our "helpful" advice, we are usually way off target in eradicating the stigma of mental health. As our government attacks the stigma - by expanding access and insurance coverage, providing job training incentives, and integrating the services into the primary care world - the next big opportunity to improve care delivery lies within designers' hands.

Engaging Patients, Families and Community Members in the Design Process

With a growing emphasis on wellness and preventive care--and increased pressures to monitor overall community health--community engagement has taken on renewed importance in healthcare delivery. Through a well-planned community engagement process, healthcare organizations can better understand and address their community's health needs, obtain specific feedback to improve current care programs and facilities, and solidify relationships with their patients and the broader community. While community engagement initiatives can occur at any time and may take a variety of forms, tying such initiatives to facility development offers unique opportunities to rethink existing processes and align investments with community expectations.

JOPLIN REBUILDS After the Storm

After the EF-5 tornado of May 22, 2011 landed a direct hit on the St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin Missouri, Sisters of Mercy Health Systems determined to re-build, on a new site, a new facility, to replace the one devastated by the tornado. Groundbreaking for the 260 bed facility took place in January of 2012. The new hospital will open for patients in the first quarter of 2015. With the lessons learned from the devastating storm experience, Sisters of Mercy Health Systems and its design and construction teams gathered together to begin planning the new design.

Go with the Flow: Improving Efficiency in Central Sterile Processing

Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare All Saints Hospital in Racine, Wisconsin is a 313 inpatient bed multi-building hospital campus that includes the Cardiovascular Institute, St. Luke’s Women’s and Children’s Health Pavilion, and St. Mary’s Hospital. The Central Sterile Processing (CSP) department supports these facilities and the physician office building located on the campus.

Students Take on Symposium Attendees with Outside the Box Ideas

For the second year in a row, the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo played host to students from around the country, and provided a most appropriate venue for the required comprehensive task. Five teams were invited to be a part of a Student Design Charette which focused on two topics trending high during this year's HFSE: 1) Generative Space and 2) Retail Health. A student design charrette was the catalyst to bring all interested and enlightened individuals together with a common goal of conceptualizing generative space.

The Keys to Maintaining Joint Commission Accreditation

The rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is presenting a number of new challenges to healthcare providers and facility operators. One of the largest of these new challenges is keeping a facility continuously accredited by The Joint Commission (TJC) (formerly JCAHO). States rely on TJC accreditation and certification programs to oversee the quality of the healthcare facilities and programs. Additionally, various state agencies utilize TJC accreditation as a condition for Medicare payments. Specifically, the State of Illinois recognizes TJC accreditation as a condition of licensure and the receipt of Medicare and Medicaid service reimbursements. As such, continuous accreditation becomes even more critical in the present ACA environment as the population ages and hospitals rely more and more on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements.

Critical Access Hospitals: Re-imagining the Care Delivery Model

Critical Access Hospitals traditionally have been the foundation of rural communities as they provide affordable access to healthcare, generate economic development, and offer well-paying professional jobs. Yet many CAH's find themselves navigating change as they expand their roles as healthcare leaders. As with many larger urban hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals are evolving with industry-wide changes in healthcare delivery methods, technology and demographics. While Critical Access Hospitals share traits with urban hospitals, they are tailored to their individual markets on a smaller scale.

From Scratch: Reimagining Hospital Food

What do you picture when you hear the words "hospital food"? Most of us imagine a cafeteria tray of lukewarm, bland food served at a prescribed meal time. That isn't the case with many recently renovated healthcare facilities.

The Story of A New Story

Since you're reading The Leaflet, chances are you have dealt with the constant demands of the healthcare industry, regardless of your role. Whether you're a facility planner, designer, architect, engineer, facility manager, construction manager, or healthcare executive, you know how necessary it is to remain flexible and ready for whatever challenge lies ahead. In our situation, that "challenge" was how to add an entire floor into the plans for a new building being constructed, without affecting the date the staff and patients needed to move in by - or altering our customer's budget.

Array Architects Conducts Rapid Lean Design Events

Array Architects conducts Rapid Lean Design Events geared to help clients quickly assess their current condition, map out patient flows impacted by the process, identify areas for improvement or streamlining, and then establish an ideal future work flow.

The New Healthcare Facility Design Standard

Changes in the healthcare field have resulted in a facility design evolution, impacting clinics, hospitals and healthcare users. Chicago-based furniture vendor, Rightsize Facility Performance, has worked with major healthcare providers throughout Chicagoland and the Midwest. Their team members noticed a needs-based trend in overall design, resulting from recent changes in healthcare policy. Healthcare facility managers are catering to a new customer, the patient.

Advanced Learnings at the 2014 HFSE Pre-Conference Workshop

Of all the possible benefits from participating in the Symposium, learning new and useful things must rank very close to the top of the list - if not, at the top. Indeed, as a 'certified' provider of professional education, the Symposium has been providing professional development continuing education credits for its high-quality educational offerings throughout its 27-year history.

Are you Armed with the 'Right Questions' for Stellar Project Success?

Knowing what questions to ask up front, leads to more successful projects. Be bold, avoid pitfalls and arm yourself with the top most relevant Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) questions on day-one of your project.

Electronic Barrier Management Program Ensures

Scheduled for fall 2014 completion, the 2.5 million-square-foot new Parkland Hospital is the largest healthcare construction project in the nation. When the $1.3 billion project is complete, it will serve more than half a million patients annually. With a campus covering 2.5 million square feet, the project includes a new 865-bed acute care hospital, outpatient clinics, parking garage, central utility plant and other support facilities.

How Retail Shaped my Future

As CEO of Anchor Health Properties, I can attribute my passion for developing innovative healthcare projects to my experience in the "retail world" and creating a positive customer experience from a very young age. I grew up living in an apartment in Atlantic City above my parent's retail business, a collection of shops and restaurants called Gordon's Alley. As a young girl I worked in the various shops and watched and learned as my parents interacted with customers.

Straighten up and fly right...What hospitals can learn from airports

I've been traveling a lot lately, every week it seems, which is unusual for me. But through this I've had time (lots of it) on airplanes and in airports, and I've been pleasantly surprised to see how much airports have improved in spite of gasoline prices, competition and airline mergers. And considering I'm typically engaged with a healthcare client designing a new facility at the end of each trip, I've been surprised to learn that hospitals could learn a few things from the airport. Here are my top six observations.

Professional engineering services in a design-build delivery model

Changes in the healthcare industry are increasing the incidence of design-build projects. This article explains how to best utilize professional engineering services within this delivery model to obtain maximum benefit for the owner and user.

What does it take for a hospital or health system to be a 'winner?'

Amid the massive changes taking place in the healthcare business, it has become a cliché for industry observers to hold forth that, among hospital and health systems, "there will be winners and losers." However, like most clichés, this one contains a germ of truth. Whenever an industry undergoes a major transformation, some competitors will prosper while others will fall by the wayside.

Forecast: Healthcare Should Partner With Retail

A healthcare presence in a retail setting will be an essential strategy in meeting expectations inherent in a restructured health system where success is measured by keeping patients healthy rather than maximizing billable units of service.

3 Black Swans In Healthcare You Didn't See Coming

When I spoke at the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo last October, I put a lot of information out there. Which is understandable given that I had 450 PowerPoint slides. I wanted to take a few minutes and elaborate and expand on a few of the points I made regarding "Black Swan" changes/developments in the healthcare arena which might affect you.

The Critical Time is NOW for Positive Change

The critical time is now for positive change. Because there's no time when it's not now, why not seize the moment by asking yourself each day, "What's the one thing I can do to further my success tomorrow?"

Knowing 'Generative Space'

You know your own good self better than anyone else does – only you know what works for you. For example, how hot you like your bath, or whether you would even prefer taking a shower instead of a bath…only you can know. This self-awareness of our personal preferences is a crucial characteristic of how we each engage with our environment – and, these decisions we make about how we engage with our environment have a direct and profound impact on the quality of our health, healthcare, and well-being.

Health Care Has Left The Building

I'm a Health Care Architect. For the last twenty-five years I've designed health facilities, mostly hospitals. It's a specialized body of knowledge, and a skill set that separates those of us who practice it from other architects. I'm proud of what I know, and it's ensured a steady stream of work for many like me, for a long time. The practices of health facility designers and builders seemed to be almost recession-proof, through times when other building types specialists were struggling.

An Invitation: Into Your Future...

On October 20th, 2013, I will lead a 'Healthcare and Design Delegation' to India - organized by the People to People Citizen Ambassador Program - I invite you to join me. Incidentally, the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo was conceived as the direct result of a similar invitation that I received from John Lind and Dick Hansen (the founders of HLM) to join them for a People to People Delegation to Japan and China in 1985.

Medical and Nursing Education in the Healthcare Reform Period

In these days when healthcare provider leadership is compelled by huge changes in care provision, as well as looming deadlines for implementation of reform and difficult decisions about capital needs, it is easy to lose sight of parallel transformations taking place. What is always clear is that all transformations are grounded in the fact that our current US healthcare system is not sustainable. From every conference podium across the country since PPACA was passed, the keynote message is that "the train has left the station". Change is underway. And every part of the healthcare sector is involved.

Healthcare Design: The View from the Gurney

Like most healthcare architects, I always thought of myself as sensitive to the patient's journey through the healthcare system and the hospital environment. But I learned the hard way that until you go through it yourself, you can't really know what it's truly like.

Thriving through the Transformation of American Healthcare

The next five years will be very challenging times for healthcare administrators as they must work to maintain a clear vision and an inspirational voice amid the turbulent currents and complex dynamics of change. The bad news: almost no aspect of healthcare will remain in its current state.

Simulation Modeling for Healthcare Leaders and Planners

Before a healthcare facility embarks on a project such as a ground-up addition, or department expansion such as Emergency, Surgical, Imaging, Labor & Delivery, Cancer Center they could determine quickly, with relatively minimal expense, in the planning process if their needs and goals will be met as planned and/or, if an expansion is really necessary.