HEALTHCARE: Transformative Healthcare Design

Danbury Hospital, a leading healthcare facility and university teaching hospital in Southwestern Connecticut, built a new 300,000 sq ft tower—the Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Pavilion—the largest expansion in its history. This project sparked a transformation in both the hospital itself and its mission to foster an environment of patient-centered care. The expansion increased the hospital’s size by 33% without having to change the campus boundaries and included the new Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Emergency Department, a critical care unit and a state-of-the art neonatal ICU. Through a community fundraising effort called, “Imagine, Build, Transform”, the hospital raised over $70 million from more than 8,000 individual personal donations.

Creating an oasis.

One of the main design tenets was creating an oasis within the hospital—both literally and figuratively—for patients, caregivers, staff and visitors. To create the physical oasis, Danbury Hospital worked with SLAM to design the healing garden, a quiet and restorative area outside of the front entrance of the hospital. They moved the Anna Maria and Stephen Kellen Emergency Department entrance away from this main entry not only to reduce vehicular traffic, but also to encourage a calming atmosphere for patient check-in. Adjacent to the entrance, the Goldstone Caregiver Center and hospital café serve as areas of respite for families, friends and visitors, where they can recharge and relax. Incorporating a blend of soft lounge seating with a variety of more intimate settings, including tables and chairs, provides more discretion for quiet and sensitive conversations.

Improving care through private patient rooms.

Improving care means putting more of a focus back on the patient. By converting all patient rooms to single-bed, private rooms, patients receive more personal care while reducing the chance for the spread of disease. Every room has ample exposure to natural light, and includes a recliner, guest chairs, side and occasional tables and an over-bed table.

From the redesigned main entrance with its peaceful gardens and unique Goldstone Caregiver Center, to the individual patient rooms with views of the cityscape, the Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Pavilion at Danbury Hospital promotes a restorative and healthy atmosphere focused on healing.

The nonprofit Hospice of Southern Maine has a new location in Scarborough for their home-care clinical teams, who care for around 200 patients each day across 68 towns and islands in southern and western Maine. Red Thread provided an integrated solution comprised of furniture, audiovisual technology, demountable walls systems, sound masking and under-carpet wiring. Through this effort, Red Thread worked alongside architects, engineers, construction professionals, and even security team members to ensure a successful integrated project delivery. The spirit of this IPD initiative fostered a true collaborative partnership with smart design thinking and real time problem solving to create the best possible results for Hospice of Southern Maine. Together, this flexible environment welcomes people to collaborate and be part of a greater community. The new center houses a learning and simulation lab for training, family bereavement suite for free community grief counseling, and a large community boardroom for education, special events and volunteer training.

Photos © Trent Bell Photography

With Doctors located in multiple spaces throughout New London, one of the key project goals was to consolidate lease holdings and bring practitioners together under one roof. However, real estate optimization was just the departure point. By utilizing demountable Privacy Walls, the team ensured that the space can easily be adjusted to accommodate future change. In addition, the new facility was designed to support L+M’s population health management and patient experience initiatives. Exam rooms facilitated eye-to-eye contact, easy access to technology and quick collaboration sessions between clinicians.

Team-based care.

The exam room is an essential space where consulting, learning and sharing happens between clinician, patients and family. Ultimately, Folio was used in exam rooms for consistency, flexibility and to support patient satisfaction. Collaboration spaces, including Jenny lounge chairs, are located adjacent to MD offices to promote the delivery of team based care.

Flexibility.

Demountable walls were installed in admin spaces, conference rooms and MD offices, as well as in the scheduling offices for privacy. In place of millwork, Answer systems furniture was utilized at the check-in kiosks to support change with minimal disruption. This flexible environment will enhance the connections vital to successful patient outcomes.

The newest Martin’s Point Health Care center embodies the future of ambulatory care.

The space design of the Martin’s Point’s “next generation” medical office building supports improving the patient experience and the team based care model. It also integrates Lean processes to facilitate patient care flow, better access to technology and more effective communication.  With the healthcare reform act driving reduced costs, improving outcomes and treating an expanding population, this facility’s design is in lockstep with the transition to larger primary care practices that are focused on continuous and coordinated care to drive the Quadruple Aim.

Quadruple Aim for healthcare.

• Improved Clinician Experience
• Improved Patient Experience
• Lower Costs
• Better Outcomes

Patient experience.

The rustic farmhouse décor in the reception/waiting room immediately sets the stage for a more personal care experience. Patients can settle in on comfortable sofas near the fireplace, but are not waiting long for their appointments as the number of exam rooms has doubled to 3-4 per care provider. Recognizing the need for more consultation, some exam rooms have been replaced by “talk” rooms. By reducing the square footage of each room and using sliding doors, more exam and talk rooms were included in the plan.

In tune with patient preference on how and when they receive care, the clinic not only offers extended hours and urgent care services, but it also provides alternatives to traditional office visits, like email consults, nurse visits, and phone or group visits. The new call center provides ongoing communication with patients, keeping them informed about upcoming appointments, prescriptions and wellness management

Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut (RMA of Connecticut) sets new standards for fertility clinics everywhere with its invigorating bright colors and inspiring design. RMA of Connecticut’s staff of physicians, nurses, and extended care team helps thousands of people become parents and make their family-building dreams a reality. The bold and inviting color scheme has been carefully curated to enhance RMA of Connecticut’s compassionate and supportive care.

Photos © Andrew Rugge, Courtesy of Perkins Eastman