The Center for Health Design Blog

Pebble Project: Paoli Hospital’s Opening Reception

I had the opportunity to attend Paoli Hospital’s opening reception for the new Pavilion last night, and it was rewarding on a few fronts. While I have been working with Paoli for nearly a year as their Research Associate for the Pebble Project, and while I was also the Principal in Charge of the wayfinding program prior to my work with The Center, it is also my local hospital.
My only prior experience in the Emergency Department included first-hand knowledge of the lack of space. We were put in the end room that was used for overflow of supplies and had no view of the nursing station. As a result, I am thrilled that the new ED is four times the size of the current facility, and incorporates all of the latest thinking about treatment, ranging from fast-track rooms to trauma care. the project also includes new patient units, operating suites, and an ICU, all using EBD features to promote improved healthcare outcomes, and patient and staff safety. They have a fantastic website that uses several mediums to describe their involvement in the Pebble Project and their use of EBD features.
Getting back to the reception, the evening was hosted by Stephanie Stahl, the CBS Medical Reporter in Philadelphia.
There were several other speeches, including a heartfelt presentation by Paoli Hospital President, Barbara Tachovsky who spoke to the stories that made the hospital: the doctors and nurses, the staff, the volunteers, and patients. She also gave a preview of the tour, highlighting many of the EBD features with an explanation of why they were used.

Following, multiple groups were escorted through the various departments to see the future of healthcare at Paoli. On “Tour 6,” many guest commented that everyone should wait until the new Pavilion opens before they get sick or have an emergency.

I hope I never need them, but am I a proud that this is my community hospital? Yes, and I commend Paoli Hospital and their whole team for such enthusiasm, commitment, and dedication to advancing the quality of healthcare, not only in their own facility, but contributing to the body of knowledge for others!

Making the Case for EBD to the C-Suite

If you’re having trouble convincing the leadership at your hospital or your client’s hospital about the value of evidence-based design, you might want to have them watch two new videos from the Healthcare Leadership Project.

Aimed at C-Suite executives, the free 10-minute on demand videos can be viewed on the Healthcare Leadership website. “EBD Roadmap for CEOs” features Georgia Tech professor and EBD expert Craig Zimring, Ph.D., talking about the CEO’s pivotal role in successfully implementing an EBD process in a healthcare building project.

In “The Business Case for EBD,” former San Diego Children’s Hospital CEO Blair Sadler explains how well-designed facilities can positively improve a hospital’s bottom line.

And, if that’s not enough, there are also white papers on these topics that can also be downloaded from the Healthcare Leadership Project website. A podcast by EBD pioneer Roger Ulrich, Ph.D., of Texas A&M that discusses the EBD research literature, is coming soon.

New Device “Smells” Handwashing Compliance

Here’s an interesting idea — a new device detects whether staff has washed their hands by “smelling” the alcohol on their hands from the soap or gel they used.

The HyGreen system includes a handwash sensing device mounted next to each gel or soap dispenser, a bed monitor, and an electronic ID-badge holder worn. When staff applies gel or soap to their hands, they simply place their hands under the handwash sensing device.

The handwash sensing device confirms that the hands have soap or gel on them and identifies the person. A green LED light on the ID badge goes on to signal that the person has washed his or her hands. The date, time and location of the handwash event is transmitted to a central server — allowing the hospital to monitor and track compliance.

This is a great example of how technology can be used to promote safety. Placement of the sensing device, location of the sinks, etc., is still a design issue, though.

NeoCon A Sign of the Times

Attendance at NeoCon World Trade Fair — held this week at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago — was down from usual, which was not a surprise to the thousands of manufacturers who participated in the annual commercial furniture/furnishings exhibition. In a normal year, Mart officials estimate that around 50,000 people come to town for NeoCon. Having attended NeoCon since 1982, my guess is that more like 25,000-35,000 attended this year.

The manufacturers I spoke with at the show seemed to accept this reality, blaming it on the economy, but putting forth the best effort they could to showcase their latest products. There were the usual freebies — environmentally-friendly bags, stuffed animals, note pads — and the usual cocktail parties, although very few offsite events other than ones sponsored by professional associations.

Attendees I spoke with actually liked that the halls and elevators were less crowded. Although the focus of NeoCon tends to be office furniture, there is plenty of healthcare products to be seen. This is especially true when the economy is bad — all of the sudden, it seems everyone wants to be in healthcare.

Here are the healthcare products that were judged to be Best of NeoCon:

Arc-Com: Midori Collection (fabrics)
CF Stinson: Agion Collection (fabrics)
Cabot Wrenn: Graduation Push Back Recliner
Humanscale: T6 Point-of-Care Technology Cart
MechoShade Systems: EcoVeil Naturals Shadecloth Series
Peter Pepper Products: Health First - Infection Control Centers
Skyline Design: Botanica (architectural glass)
Wieland Healthcare: Versant Glider

Where Does the Built Environment Fit In?

Unless you’ve been living under a log, you know that the Obama Administration has put a priority on creating a better healthcare system so that every American has access to high quality healthcare. They want to do this by the end of the year.

Ambitious, yes, but not impossible. Here are the three key componente of the Obama healthcare reform agenda:

1. Reform the healthcare system: We will take steps to reform our system by expanding coverage, improving quality, lowering costs, honoring patient choice and holding insurance companies accountable.

3. Improve preventative care: In order to keep our people healthy and provide more efficient treatment we need to promote smart preventative care, like cancer screenings and better nutrition, and make critical investments in electronic health records, technology that can reduce errors while ensuring privacy and saving lives.

Where does the design of the built environment fit in to all this? Very simple — improving quality, lowering costs, reducing errors, and saving lives. We know that by making changes to the built environment and operations, we can create safer more sustainable facilities that can impact all those areas — and have the evidence to prove it.

So, we need to get our voice heard in Congress. The Center for Health Design is working with others in the industry to try to make this happen and hope to share more about our progress soon. I’ll keep you posted.