WASHINGTON, D.C.—National interdisciplinary design firm HGA has announced the completion of Children’s National Hospital’s new arrival and patient experience located in Washington, DC. Considered among the top pediatric facilities in the nation, the institution, dedicated to neonatal care, neurosurgery, oncology, and other specialties, and sought after by patients and families from all over the nation, needed an upgraded arrival experience.

Prior to the transformation, most patients and their families accessed the 323-bed facility from a sub-level garage, where low ceiling heights caused poor acoustics, low lighting added to heightened anxiety levels, and lack of visual wayfinding cues contributed to a feeling of confusion. To create an improved experience, HGA’s integrated internal team of designers, registered nurse, and researchers analyzed the patients’ journey through the existing sequence, surveyed families and staff, and developed solutions to create a more hospitable and safer arrival to the hospital.

“We created a holistic arrival sequence with points of entry identified with a clean and clear design, introducing appropriate amounts of visual contrasts such as color temperatures, textures, and transparent versus solid surfaces,” said Kevin A. Day, Principal at HGA. “We designed a pleasant, stress-free arrival experience with wayfinding improvements that provided consistency for visitors as they move throughout the hospital.”

Features of the fully modernized entrance experience include:

• Vehicular traffic functions, including drop-off, pick-up, and ‘kiss and ride’ areas were designed for transparency and ease of flow;
• ADA-accessible parking areas were expanded;
• Pedestrian circulation routes and entries were separated from staff shuttles for safety and efficiency; and
• Additional improvements include a three-bank elevator system exclusive to visitors, new signage, and color-coded floor assignments coordinated with the hospital’s wayfinding improvement project. An impressive grand stairway in warm neutral tones and indirect lighting connects visitors to the main atrium and visitor check-in area.

HGA considered age, cognitive levels, diminished vision, neurodiversity, and accessibility when specifying lighting materials, placements, and illuminance. Interior lighting was specified with low unified glare ratio (UGR) levels and regressed lighting fixtures infuse underground hallways and elevator bays in ways that will not overwhelm children sensitive to light or their surroundings.

The new arrival sequence features a design that is calming and sensory stimulating – together they engage the visitor and help place them at ease. Engaging tactile surfaces now provide positive distractions. They include pops of color along accent walls and a 15-foot-tall structure, provided by RxArt Foundation titled, “Tree to Be Me,” that stands at the base of the stairway. The mixed media work of marble, steel, and fabric, created by The Haas Brothers, resembles a “magical beaded palm-tree” and features a “resident monkey” who greets visitors as they ascend the winding staircase.

“We reduced visual clutter and recreated a space so that people feel comfortable, even delighted, walking into Children’s National,” said HGA’s Terri Zborowsky, an evidence-based researcher at HGA.

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Skanska USA and ACAI Associates, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale officially completed the $27.5 million renovation of Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital at Broward Health Medical Center.

The multi-phase project renovated both inpatient and outpatient areas in various pediatric units across the hospital. 30 new, state-of-the-art private rooms were added in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), granting the NICU a total bed capacity of 63.

According to Skanska, the new private rooms were designed following NICU guidelines and keeping current and future hospital needs in mind, while creating more space for patients, their families and hospital staff.

A total of 12 beds were added to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, 20 to the Pediatric Step-down Units, and 12 more beds were installed in the Oncology and Hematology departments.

“For the Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital at Broward Health Medical Center project, our overall goal was to provide a state-of-the-art, fully private children’s hospital expansion, that would include newly renovated units such as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), hematology and oncology areas, and more,” said Nelmarie Bowe, senior project manager, Skanska USA Building.

Bowe continued stating that the fully private children’s hospital was created so physicians could provide the best care to the smallest patients. The entire process, from design and pre-construction, was completed always with the patient in mind.

One of the main design elements incorporated in the project was the use of the continuous nautical theme throughout the hospital, allowing everyone from patients and staff, to family members and visitors to be able to identify where you were, and specifically what parts encompassed the children’s hospital.

“The idea was to be keep the design family oriented so that physicians and staff could provide family centered care that would help with the healing process,” said Bowe.

The NICU renovations included pre-fabricated headwalls that incorporated an abundance of medical gases, allowing the hospital to increase capacity if needed for emergency situations.

Also specific to the NICU was the addition of play areas designed for patients’ siblings, for families who may have more than one child already.

In the PICU and hematology areas, where patients typically spend longer periods of time, there are also playrooms for patients so they can enjoy some time out of their rooms.

The hospital staff was also kept in mind as the newly renovated staff lounges allow the team to step away and refresh to be able to provide the best level of care.

The hospital installed updated biomedical systems that allow the physicians and nurses to track the status of all patients throughout entire unit. Specifically in the NICU, physicians and staff can now monitor labor and birth (L&B) deliveries at all times so they can monitor an influx of patients by tracking at-risk pregnancies. This then allows them to better plan for new patients and keep a better schedule.

During construction, the hospital remained fully operational while also using Skanska’s proprietary InSite Monitor app that tracks noise, vibration, dust, and differential pressure in spaces where we were performing construction work, allowing the team to monitor health and safety conditions throughout the whole project so the work would not affect patient care.

The renovation began in 2015 and was completed in August 2018.

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SEATTLE – Seattle Children’s has announced an upcoming project redeveloping a second Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC), which will provide medical, dental, mental health and nutrition services to all families – including those of lower-income.

Due to increased rent and housing costs, the new location will be situated closer to 75 percent of OBCC patient families, who have moved from the Central District to south Seattle and south King County for more affordable housing.

The approximately 35,000-square-foot clinic aims to meet the needs of the rising pediatric population in both south Seattle and south King County.

The original OBCC, located in the Central District, will be renovated to upgrade its clinical facilities. The clinic will continue to provide for families in the Central District and adjoining neighborhoods as well as the northern and western communities.

“We heard the community when they told us it was too hard for them to get to our Yesler clinic. We’ve listened, and now we’re responding by meeting our families where they are,” said Dr. Benjamin Danielson, senior medical director of OBCC. “It’s not enough to patch a problem – treat a cold, give a vaccine, write a prescription. At OBCC, we believe in addressing the challenges that keep families awake at night – challenges that would bring most of us to our knees. One such problem is gentrification, which pushes lower-income families out of Seattle’s Central District, and away from the services that they need.”

Additionally, the clinic is a part of an urban community concept called “Othello Square,” a 3.2-acre site that will provide families with access to services, such as a charter high school, an economic opportunity center, a computer lab, an early learning center, affordable retail and commercial spaces for rent, community meeting spaces, and mixed-income housing for rent and ownership.

Services at the Othello location would include pediatric medical care, mental health, dental services, nutrition, sports medicine, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, hopefully with the Practice management software solution. Clinics (especially dental clinics) with management software, tend to have a better and streamlined workflow and have better accessibility of the business aspect of things.

“We’re dedicated to ensuring every child lives the healthiest and most fulfilling life possible,” said Dr. Jeff Sperring, Seattle Children’s chief executive officer. “The new clinic will allow us to provide a medical home for families in their community, where they can also access many other necessary services that will help address some of the greatest health challenges facing families today.”

The clinic is scheduled to break ground in 2019 while Seattle Children’s will work in conjunction with Spectrum Development Solutions, their architects Weber Thompson, and OBCC’s architect NBBJ to develop and build the second site.

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PASADENA, Calif. — CO Architects was recently recognized by local and national organizations for two different major healthcare projects in California and Arizona at the Los Angeles Business Council’s (LABC) 48th Annual Architectural Awards.

One of the recipients of this award was the Shriners for Children Medical Center; a facility that combines a three-story building for surgery, clinical services, rehabilitation and healing landscapes.

Collaboratively designed by CO Architects and SRG Partnership, the facility was a part of an effort to replace and renovate its aging facilities as well as responding to the hospital’s new business model of focusing on outpatient services for young patients.

Now, Shriner’s new 74,800-square-foot center concentrates on outpatient services to better meet its mission of providing care to young patients.

The teams’ goal was to create a design that leverages evidence-based design strategies, the redevelopment of a suburban site, and an outward-facing building design that provides a positive emotional journey for patients and families.

The two-acre site is separated into a modern, medical building on the northern half of the property while rehabilitation gardens and outdoor gathering areas are situated in the southern part. The new medical facility is also half the size of its predecessor, yet can service three times the number of patients.

The design incorporates a garden forecourt and upper-story terraces to draw people outside to connect with nature and their surroundings.

The contemporary architecture of sweeping horizontal planes, cantilevers, and setbacks, along with region-sensitive landscape, is consistent with the modernist legacy of Pasadena.

Looking at the interior, CO Architects and SRG focused on color and shape, while avoiding childish clichés.

The interiors feature playful, colorful themes based on the ocean, forest, and sky with custom-designed murals depicting flora and fauna in colorful silhouettes run along the corridors, fostering a welcoming discovery on the way to waiting areas and treatment rooms, and working as positive distractions for the child patients. The center also touts vibrant furnishings arranged in various ways to accommodate families and visitors.

Furthermore, environmentally sensitive strategies helped form the architecture to improve patient comfort, encourage healing, and save energy and operating costs. Energy-efficient glazing, protective overhangs and highly efficient mechanical systems are designed to offset energy use.

“It was important to maximize natural light, not only for the healing factor, but also to avoid interiors that felt dark and sterile,” said Fabian Kremkus, AIA, LEED GA, design principal at CO Architects. “Rooms are configured so light is passed inward from perimeter spaces, while internal courtyards allow daylight to reach the center of the building.”

Kremkus continued, stating that in addition to the patient check-in, exam rooms, and x-ray areas on the ground floor – the team also integrated a low-dose imaging system and prosthetic limb manufacturing space.

In the main lobby, an interactive feature wall draws kids into the space and changes images with kinetic motion ignited by touch. LED lighting is used in all hallways and exam and x-ray rooms where patients can alter the color of the illumination, which provides a pleasant distraction from the clinical processes taking place.

The second floor features pre-operative and post-anesthesia care units that are both visually and acoustically private to maintain patient dignity. Within these spaces, patients can control room lighting, entertainment, and education systems, as well as nurse assistance needs, giving them greater autonomy and sense of control.

The third-floor medical library features a connection to the operating rooms via an electronic video integration system to view surgeries as they are happening. On the roof, light monitors with automated louvers provide shading when necessary from the bright summer sun to preserve energy. Additionally, large portions of the glazing on the south and east side feature integrated specular louvers to enhance daylighting and mitigate solar heat gain.

Construction on the center began in 2015 and wrapped up in 2017.

The design team also included Rios Clementi Hale Studios as the landscape architect and DPR Construction as the general contractor.

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MURRIETA, Calif. – Rady Children’s Hospital of San Diego (RCHSD) celebrated the unveiling of its new outpatient pediatric center on August 11 with a grand opening event open to the public.

Stantec Architecture of Irvine, Calif., and McCarthy Building Companies of San Diego partnered to deliver a three-story, 62,500-square-foot building to offer a total of 15 specialty clinics under one roof. The pediatric services include primary care, subspecialty care, developmental services and specialized programs for children on the autism spectrum.

The building is an extension of the main campus and incorporates some elements into the new facility that resemble the main campus, with features including a clock tower, a palm tree-lined entryway and an arching façade.

The project features other outdoor clinical spaces at the stepped terraces. The main interior staircase within the clock tower is glazed full height for patient and visitor safety and internally lit by colorful light fixtures.

The building was themed as the “Dream Center” and includes artwork and design elements featuring hot-air balloons that frequently mark the Murrieta skyline. The building is expected to achieve LEED Certification though design features such as green interior finishes, water use reduction through plumbing fixtures and landscaping, optimized energy performance, and proximity to public transportation. The facility is also outfitted to accept future telemedicine systems to allow staff and physicians to collaborate with Rady’s Main Campus.

RCHSD also has the specialized play equipment, staff, and room features to perform clinical studies and observation of their autistic children. Included in the program is a licensed Toddler Inclusionary Pre-School, which integrates children on the autism spectrum into a typical classroom and playground setting.

Joanne McAllister, principal-in-charge at Stantec Architecture, AIA, said that when the project was initially discussed between Rady Children’s and the community, they discovered that many of their patients were travelling over an hour to receive the specialty services at the main campus including those in the autism program.

“Since the project was somewhat remote to the larger cities and due to the increase in construction activity in general, it was difficult to meet the subcontractor bid requirements for the project,” said McAllister. “Fortunately, many subs had longstanding relationships with the contractor and hospital and we were able to get the quality and commitment from them.”

McAllister continued, stating that many community members attending the building opening mentioned that having those specialty services available close by created a noticeable convenience for patients and their families.

“I am so grateful and honored to work with an organization focused on the research and innovation that helps children and their families when they are at a time of their greatest need, and now within their own community,” McAllister concluded.

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ATLANTA — Egleston Children’s Hospital, a subsidiary of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, has officially submitted a state application for its proposition of a new pediatric hospital in the Atlanta suburb of Brookhaven.

The plan entails replacing the current facility with a 446-bed pediatric hospital, which would offer a 100-bed increase in response to the rapidly growing population in the region.

The proposed 70-acre campus and $1.5 billion project for the North Druid Hills campus would be the highest-costing hospital construction plan in the history of the Georgia certificate-of-need (CON) program, according to experts.

In Georgia, it is required that the Georgia Department of Community Health approve any organization seeking to expand its physical medical services. The state CON process has the possibility of being drawn-out if a hospital project is opposed, with such objections typically coming from potentially competing facilities. In this case, no opposition has appeared at this time and Children’s expects to be delivered a decision from the department before the end of the year.

The planned facility would include two patient bed towers, which will hold the AFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, neonatal intensive care units, pediatric intensive care units and cardiac intensive care units. The hospital will introduce larger rooms with sleeping areas and big windows with “healing views” to achieve natural light. The project will also make room for 20 acres of the campus to hold greenspace with miles of walking trails as well as paths on and around the site.

In total, the project’s expenses will include the cost of the hospital as well as the jointed clinic and office building and central utility plant. Children’s also said it will invest more than $40 million in traffic and infrastructure improvements. Officials of Children’s expressed that this investment is a reflection of their focus to continue to meet the needs of children in Georgia as well as creating the best possible experience for patients and their families.

Construction for the new hospital will begin in 2020 and is slated for completion in 2025.

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The project is a collaboration between Memorial Medical Center and Essentia Health, a health care provider based in Duluth, Minn. Essentia Health has been providing cancer care services on the MMC campus since 2002. For the past several years, the two health care organizations have been in ongoing discussions about how they could collaborate to bring expanded cancer care services to residents of Ashland and the surrounding area.

“We have done extensive research, and the need for additional services, especially radiation oncology, is significant,” said Jason Douglas, chief executive officer of MMC, in a statement. “We’ve talked with local physicians and everyone agrees that this investment will greatly benefit cancer patients from our region who will no longer have to drive hundreds of miles to get the services they need.”

Boldt Construction of St. Louis has been chosen as contractor for the project with Kahler Slater of Milwaukee serving as architect.

The new cancer center will offer many of the same services provided at Essentia’s Cancer Center in Duluth, Minn., including infusion therapy, radiation therapy and clinical trials as well as the STAR Cancer Rehabilitation Program, a survivorship program and educational resource center.
The new facility will be housed in a brand new building that will be located adjacent to MMC and Essentia Health-Ashland Clinic. Oncologist Dr. Mihailo Lalich told the Ashland Daily Press that when the idea was first conceived to create an advanced cancer treatment center, the idea was to create a place that would eliminate the disruption caused by sometimes-daily trips to Duluth.

Dr. Mihailo Lalich, who moved to the region last year and has been providing cancer care in Ashland, Hayward and Spooner, will serve as the medical director.

“This is a highly specialized project because the building will house linear accelerators, but we hope to take full advantage of our local workforce,” Douglas said in a statement.

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Scheduled to begin in the spring, the project will add 114 new patient rooms to an existing two-story section of the Springfield hospital and eventually convert the entire facility to private rooms by January 2016. Other upgrades include adding six new operating rooms and renovating perioperative and surgery services, developing a new main entrance place and updating the main lobby, and modernizing the hospital utilities infrastructure.

“This project will position Memorial to provide for our community’s well being for many decades to come,” said Ed Curtis, president and chief executive officer for Memorial Health System. “These additions to our hospital will increase privacy, comfort and safety for our patients and improve the setting we provide for family members and others who visit our hospital every day.”

The project will be completed in three phases. Target completion dates are December 2014 for the first phase of the surgery expansion and main lobby renovation, May 2015 for the second phase of the surgery renovation and January 2016 for the new private patient rooms and main entrance upgrade.

The hospital is also building the Memorial Center for Learning and Innovation, which did not need approval from the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board. The three-story, 50,000-square-foot learning center will feature a large conference room for conferences, professional classes of up to 300 people and Memorial-sponsored health education events. A clinical simulation center and surgical-skills laboratory will also be included, featuring hands-on training and patient care education in simulated clinical settings.

The medical center expansion is expected to add 100 permanent jobs to the hospital’s staff of 4,276 people, and about 400 construction jobs will be created during the almost-three-year period.

A rendering of the expansion project was designed by BSA Life Structures, a Chicago-based architectural and engineering firm, and released to the public in December. No other information regarding the construction team was determined as of press time.

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