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Healthcare Architect
Good Design Can Produce Substantial Savings

(Excerpt from "A Better Building's Benefits," published in Modern Healthcare, December 9, 1991)

"In addition to [savings from reduced patient stays, reduced nursing time, and increased use of weaker analgesics], good design can produce substantial savings through reduced staff turnover. Assuming 4.06 staff members per occupied bed and 198 occupied beds, 804 staff members would be required. A 15% turnover rate translates to a loss of 121 staff members per year. Figuring two months of retraining and the costs of interviewing and recruiting, each instance of turnover costs the hospital about $20,000. So, cutting turnover in half would save $1.2 million per year.

Here's another source of savings. On an addition to a Northern California hospital, Anshen+Allen determined that one registered nurse position per station could be eliminated through efficient design. Thus, 10 positions could be saved in a 300-bed hospital at one station for every 30 beds. The savings: $438,020 per year ($36,200 in salary and 21% more in benefits per nurse).

Adding up the results of reduced patient stays, reduced staff turnover, and increased staff efficiency, the savings amount to $10.18 million per year. Multiply that by a 30-year mortgage and you get an astounding number.

What are you willing to pay now to save more than $10 million per year and get a patient-oriented environment in the process?"

Derek Parker, FAIA, RIBA
Senior Partner
Anshen+Allen Architects
San Francisco, CA