RS&H Archives - HCO News https://hconews.com/tag/rsh/ Healthcare Construction & Operations Mon, 02 Oct 2023 16:36:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0.9 https://hconews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/cropped-HCO-News-Logo-32x32.png RS&H Archives - HCO News https://hconews.com/tag/rsh/ 32 32 New MOB Bringing Care Closer to Home for Florida Community https://hconews.com/2023/10/12/new-mob-bringing-care-closer-to-home-for-florida-community/ Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:35:14 +0000 https://hconews.com/?p=49084 Much like many areas across Florida, Apopka is seeing rapid population growth and a boom in its residential market.

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By HCO Staff

APOPKA, Fla.—Much like many areas across Florida, Apopka is seeing rapid population growth and a boom in its residential market. With a growing population, there came a problem: residents in the area about 30 miles northwest of Orlando had to travel a significant distance if they needed infusion therapy.

AdventHealth called upon RS&H to design its Apopka infusion therapy center and USP800 pharmacy that now meets the community’s oncology needs.

“The need for it was huge because of the population growth,” said RS&H architect Matthew Wall. “We’re providing something not just for the patients who are going through this facility but family members, so they don’t have to go through the extra stress of travel.”

The 13,489-square-foot project was completed in late April 2023 and finished under budget. RS&H drove the planning, architecture, interior design and structural engineering project phases, which strayed away from corral-style infusion design and focused on increased patient comfort and stress reduction.

After discussing AdventHealth’s needs, a state-of-the-art, large pharmacy was at the top of its list. The client wanted a direct line of service from the pharmacy to individual treatment.

Implementation of this project element was ideal, thanks to the project’s location on the top floor of the medical office building (MOB). This proximity allowed ventilation to the roof, allowing the harmful gasses produced when compounding treatment drugs to be exhausted through minimal ductwork.

Even though the clinic was the final addition to the building, the existing infrastructure caused a few challenges in the design of the space. Apopka MOB now boasts a 2,400-square-foot compounding pharmacy, similar to AdventHealth’s Celebration Campus Cancer Center. A 400-square-foot clinical laboratory complements the USP800-compliant pharmacy.

“The staff can walk over to one part of the space, get the drug, take it to the patient, and treat them in the same space without a delay in time, without an extra storage facility or third-party vendor like many places do,” Wall said. “With physicians on site, they can really examine the patient. It’s a full-circle treatment cycle, all in one location.”

The facility incorporates 15 typical infusion treatment bays, three quick-turn infusion bays and two private isolation infusion rooms with ensuite toilets in an intuitive layout. Patients enter the facility, receive treatment by easily finding marked bays along a path similar to a racetrack, and exit through the same door they entered. Physicians are in the center of the bays, creating an immediate visual connection between patients and staff.

“Even though you are with a clinician, it is a very streamlined process,” said RS&H interior designer Jessica Whitlock. “You do not have to go through a maze of bays and rooms; it is pretty clear.”

Individual bays give patients control of their time in the clinic. Spacious bays enable family and friends to accompany patients during treatment. Patient-controlled blinds, televisions and recliners come standard in each bay, while the isolation rooms allow higher-risk patients to be sequestered and protect themselves or other patients with compromised immune systems from transmitting illnesses to one another.

Patient-controlled paneling between bays allows patients to chat with neighboring patients if they feel up to it or provides privacy and quiet during treatment. Bays are situated along the exterior of the building, each with large windows allowing ample sunlight to enter the rooms. Thanks to the design, patients can create a biophilic and physiological connection with nature and sunshine to turn their focus to recovery.

“It is so much less stressful on the patient and staff members,” Wall said. “When you minimize stress, recovery rates are higher, and everything is much more improved, not just efficiency. There are statistics that prove that stress has a significant impact on recovery, so when you can limit that stress, you’re going to have a big impact on that chance for recovery.”

For decades at cancer centers worldwide, patients ring a bell as a milestone celebration for completing their treatment, sharing hope and a new outlook for other patients nearby. Bell walls are commonplace in infusion treatment centers, but this project had a larger vision for the area.

RS&H gifted an extended rope to the clinical team, who participated in the design process. AdventHealth is a faith-based organization, and the rope itself represents the Holy Trinity. The rope’s components – two white strands representing hope and healing and one blue strand representing RS&H – were woven together, creating a bond between the organizations and the project.

Scripture, poetry and other imagery surround the bell, providing a pop of color and optimism to all who enter the facility.

“We took the opportunity to elevate the design around this bell – to actually make it a moment in that particular patient’s journey,” Whitlock said. “We put it out in an area where patients, as they were going each time to the facility to get treatments done, would walk past it as a sign of hope and determination for the day when they ring that bell. It’s very special.”

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Major Redesign Transforms Orlando Hospital Unit https://hconews.com/2021/05/17/major-redesign-transforms-orlando-hospital-unit/ Mon, 17 May 2021 12:39:49 +0000 https://hconews.com/?p=46848 Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children has been a renowned facility since opening more than 30 years ago.

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By HCO Staff

ORLANDO—Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children has been a renowned facility since opening more than 30 years ago. Now, the hospital’s hematology and oncology unit has a new look and feel, as well as the benefit of several architecture and engineering updates, to welcome patients and their families and improve their experience.

“Our unit was due for a much-needed facelift,” said Maria Clark, nurse manager of the hematology and oncology clinics at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer. “The children that my team cares for are typically in the hospital longer than other patients, some of them for a month, six weeks or more. So, it’s important that we make their experience as comfortable and positive as possible.”

Orlando Health turned to national design firm RS&H to make the 20 Orlando Health Arnold Palmer hematology and oncology patient rooms more functional and aesthetically pleasing for the patients and the multidisciplinary team caring for them while also maintaining the current bed count.

“We wanted to make sure the space is living up to the world-class quality of care patients receive here,” said RS&H Lead Architect Jeffrey Smith.

To give the hospital staff a better idea of the coming changes, RS&H designers mocked up an entire patient room. They built everything out of cardboard and simple materials to walk everyone through the space and get their input during early stages of design.

“It was important to get their feedback on the changes they were looking for and what could help benefit the patients,” said RS&H Interior Designer Jessica Whitlock. Clark added, “It was exciting for our nursing team to have a part in the planning process. We got to ‘test drive’ the new beds and share thoughts on the layout and furniture in the patient rooms.”

Walking into the patient rooms, eyes immediately are drawn to the custom seascape murals on the wall running along the patient bed.

Each of the underwater scenes, designed on wall-protective material, present a different experience and focus, from sea turtles and sunken ships to sea ruins and treasure chests.

“We tried to make it have a lot of depth, to be interactive even if was static,” Whitlock said. “The artwork changes from room to room so that it creates a different environment for returning and long-term patients. It creates a new scene for children to dive into.”

All new flooring also finds its way into the patient rooms and corridors. Bright blues and grays highlight the different zones in a patient room for the patient, family and clinical team. The new finishes, floors and paint are pulled into the main corridors and into children’s activity rooms.

The bathrooms in each patient room are also refurbished with new plumbing, showers and toilet fixtures. The new sinks outside the bathrooms are also surrounded in new decorative tile.

There is also more space for family, particularly the patients’ parents who, before the renovation, had to sleep on a small bench if they wanted to stay in the same room as their child.

RS&H and the Orlando Health team turned to IOA, a specialized healthcare furniture company, for ideas on a Murphy bed that would fit the room. Ultimately, IOA designed a bed that folds down horizontally, specifically for the 20 rooms at the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer facility. The design came together over a lot of online meetings and collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some parents of children at the hospital have already complimented the team on the new beds, which has added a new level of comfort in an environment where any comfort is welcome.

The fourth-floor project was completed on schedule in February. The design-assist project delivery brought RS&H together with contractor CPPI in the schematic design phase, with PMA handling project management.

The fourth-floor project was completed on schedule in February. The design-assist project delivery brought RS&H together with contractor CPPI in the schematic design phase, with Project Management Advisors, Inc. (PMA) handling project management. Coordination among the design and construction teams, security and facility management helped minimize disruption to surrounding floors and departments throughout the project.

 

 

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New Health Village in Florida Features Biophilic Design https://hconews.com/2021/03/09/new-health-village-in-florida-features-biophilic-design/ Tue, 09 Mar 2021 12:43:37 +0000 http://hconews.com/?p=46651 Stellar has officially completed its construction of the new Flagler Health+ Village at Nocatee.

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By HCO Staff

PONTE VEDRA, Fla.—Stellar has officially completed its construction of the new Flagler Health+ Village at Nocatee. The $19 million design-build project includes a multi-story medical office building totaling 40,000 square feet. Stellar partnered with architects at RS&H to complete the new facility on schedule.

Built on a four-acre site in the Nocatee Town Center, the property is located in the heart of the growing master-planned community and the village offers residents a variety of comprehensive medical services, including:

  • Primary care and family medicine
  • Laboratory and diagnostic services
  • Concierge medicine
  • Imaging (MRI, CT scans, X-ray, ultrasound and mammography)
  • Heart and vascular care
  • Orthopedics
  • Health coaching
  • Wellness and educational classes

The building’s biophilic design is intended to better connect visitors and staff to the surrounding natural environment. It incorporates a green moss wall that helps cleanse the air of toxic VOCs, reduces noise and adds a clutter-free, natural design element to the space. The site also includes large expansive views to the exterior, a curtain wall, airy skylights and a one-acre park.

“We’re honored to be a part of translating this innovative health and wellness concept into a reality for First Coast residents,” said Richard Lovelace, senior vice president, commercial at Stellar. “We’ve partnered with Flagler Health+ to build the health village in the Murabella community, which is now open, as well as the forthcoming health village at Durbin Park. While all of these locations offer the consistent quality of care patients expect from Flagler Health+, each boasts a unique ‘personality’ with world-class features and functions.”

Crews first broke ground on the property in September 2019, and despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project was completed safely and on schedule.

Stellar provides award-winning construction management at-risk, design-build and general contracting services for a range of commercial and public sector markets across the United States. Flagler Health+ is a total-care enterprise aimed at advancing the physical, social and economic health of Northeast Florida communities.

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