LOS ANGELES—Taylor Design, based in California, has built a nationwide reputation in the healthcare sector. The firm has five offices in California alone, and as part of a plan to expand its reach into the local healthcare sector, Taylor Design recently hired healthcare industry veteran Daniel Ortega, AIA, to head its new Los Angeles location.

Ortega has worked in the healthcare sector of the greater Los Angeles area for 30 years, including with the California Office of Statewide Healthcare Planning and Development (OSHPD). His design work and project management skills encompass project work in medical center master planning, assisted living, acute care facility remodels, medical education and conference centers, medical office buildings, outpatient clinics and surgery centers, and laboratories.

“I’m coming to Taylor Design at a point in my career where I can make a significant contribution, and also at a time that I believe works well with the firm’s expansion plans for Los Angeles,” Ortega said in a statement. “I am excited to be a part of an employee-owned firm with a culture of teamwork and camaraderie. Taylor Design approaches projects with energy and creativity, and I’m anxious to spread the word about this exceptional firm to clients and new employees in the Los Angeles area.”

“Los Angeles is one of the most dynamic metropolitan areas, not only in Southern California, but in the world,” Kevin Hinrichs, incoming president of Taylor Design, said recently of his firm’s new office and the hiring of Ortega. “We also have more resources in closer proximity to our existing and future clients in L.A., and this new location offers the firm more flexibility for staff that live closer to L.A. County than Orange County.

“Finally, and very importantly, we are adding Dan, an extremely experienced and talented designer and a leading healthcare expert in the region and the state.”

Taylor Design’s healthcare clients in California have included UCSF Medical Center, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Scripps Health, UC Irvine Health, Hoag Health Network and numerous work for Kaiser Permanente.

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SAN DIEGO COUNTY—Architectural and interior design strategy firm Taylor Design has announced the groundbreaking of a new acute inpatient rehabilitation hospital to be located in Escondido, California, in northern San Diego County. 

The employee-owned firm joined design partners Kindred Healthcare Pacific Medical Buildings, Palomar Health and general contractor McCarthy Building Companies at the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the rehabilitation hospital, which will be located on the campus of Palomar Medical Center in Escondido. 

Kindred and Palomar jointly selected Taylor Design in 2017 to design the new facility, which was needed in the area to expand the offerings of rehabilitative services for patients.  The design concept selected by Taylor Design goes hand in hand with Kindred’s stated mission of providing quality care and support for patients recovering from illness or injury.

“We are excited to work with Kindred Healthcare and Palomar Health on this joint venture to enhance the rehabilitation services offered to patients in the San Diego community,” Joe Lowe, associate and San Diego office leader of Taylor Design, said in a statement. “This new facility will provide state-of-the-art technology and treatment options to meet the needs of the growing population of patients that require comprehensive rehabilitation care.”

The two-story, 58,000-square-foot medical facility in Escondido will offer 52 inpatient beds when completed sometime in the early part of 2021.  When the new facility opens its doors to the public, the hospital will be San Diego County’s first ever standalone rehabilitation hospital, and will offer specialized treatment in patients requiring care in recovering from strokes, brain injuries and other such maladies. 

Taylor Design has been in business since 1979, with four bases in Northern and Southern California, and a fifth office scheduled to open in Los Angeles soon.  Previous healthcare clients of the firm have included the UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco; Stanford Health Care; SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; UC Berkeley; San Mateo County; Scripps Health, San Diego; UC San Diego Health System, San Diego; UC Irvine Health, Orange County; Hoag Health Network, Orange County; as well as numerous projects for Kaiser Permanente.

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The program was funded by the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN). Not only did these nurses learn a numerous of leadership and innovative techniques, but the hospitals also are expected to save almost $4.5 million yearly through their nurses new practices. The mantra of the leadership program, officially called the AACN Clinical Scene Investigator Academy, is to empower bedside nurses as leaders as well as overall improvers of patient care. It is also the only leadership program where the hospital receives the proper scholarly programming as well as numerous grant funds for the implementation of the program.

The AACN noticed several different successes highlighted by the nurses who experienced the 16-month class. Some of them include a decrease in catheter urinary tract infections, central line-associated bloodstream infections, tracheostomy tubes needed and average length of stay in the ICU, to name a few.

”[The academy] provides frontline nurses with the knowledge and tools for improving the quality and cost of care,” said Diana Mason, the president of the American Academy of Nursing, said in a statement. “It teaches nurses how to make the business case for specific approaches to improving patients’ experiences with care, improving clinical outcomes and reducing costs.”

Chief nursing officers in hospitals around the country are already noticing several aspects to the program and are intrigued by the benefits and costs of it. Thomas Smith, the CNO at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., has seen the impact of nurses who have completed the program. “The nurse-led initiatives developed by AACN CSI Academy participants are an outstanding example of how we can advance our work and practice environments to support improvements in patient care,” Smith said in a statement.

The New York team is the sixth contingent to participate in the program, as hospitals from Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas have all sent nurses to this month program. Hospitals around the Seattle area are also involved. A total of 200 nurses and 49 hospitals are participating.
AACN is also providing an online database with practices, innovations, references and other resources, allowing the spread of various techniques in order to spur innovative care in hospitals. With the spread of online resources, as well as the appraisal for the program by several officials, the AACN expects that the CSI Academy will become the primary resource for proper techniques to be utilized by nurses around the country, and internationally. AACN has invested more than $1 million in the project.

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