Medical Construction & Design

JUL-AUG 2017

Medical Construction & Design (MCD) is the industry's leading source for news and information and reaches all disciplines involved in the healthcare construction and design process.

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MCDM AG.COM | J U LY/AUGUST 2017 | Medical Construction & Design 37 O ver $200 billion has been spent during the past decade on U.S. hospital construction. To increase the likelihood of designing facilities that function well for patients and staff , and are cost-eff ective, hospital administrators and facility planners are drawing on Evidence-Based Design to increase the likelihood that new facilities will generate the expected outcomes. Forward-thinking healthcare organizations, architectural fi rms and construction companies know that the built environment plays a key role in treating illness. To that end, many are conducting focus groups with patients and staff with results that greatly infl uence the design and features of a hospital. Importance of research Research can help facility professionals, architects and hospital administrators make more informed facility decisions. For example, in 2006, researchers at Texas A&M; and Georgia Institute of Technology identifi ed more than 600 studies demonstrating the impact of hospital design on outcome measures, including reductions in staff errors and stress, as well as the amount of pain experienced and medication required by patients. Their conclusion was two- fold: fi rst, there is more than suffi cient evidence from the scientifi c literature to guide hospital design; and second, utilizing that information to improve hospital design does have a signifi cant Research, focus groups guide fruition of Southeast Louisiana Veteran's 'Project Legacy' From Left: A clear, straight path that runs through all parts of the hospital, the concourse simplifi es navigation and limits anxiety-inducing blind corners. Staircases are built straight with no "switchback" so people can see what's ahead. > This new facility in New Orleans is now the newest physical representation of America's promise to care for Veterans' health and welfare in exchange for the honorable service they performed when they were younger men and women. $ b ll h b in Care BY BARBARA WAGNER | PHOTOS BY SEAN AIRHART

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