Insights & Solutions

The 130-year-old Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) Somerville Campus is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School (HMS) north of Boston offering urgent care, primary care, women’s health, and inpatient psychiatry services for children and youth.

When it embarked on a significant renovation of two floors to make them more suitable for behavioral health treatments, project architect Lavallee Brensinger Architects brought in Unicel Architectural to help upgrade the facility’s legacy window system. Unicel Architectural was contracted to furnish nearly 40 window units, including spandrel panels and its award-winning, AAMA 501.8 certified Vision Control for Behavioral Health for exterior and interior applications.

The Big Lots Behavioral Health Pavilion at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is housed in a 386,000 square foot glass building featuring integrated inpatient and outpatient services. Unicel Architectural, which has a strong track record working with behavioral health centers, was asked to deliver an integrated louvers product. The pavilion now now boasts more than 300 exterior Vision Control units with vertical louvers and glass stops in glossy white and custom gray, each perfectly suited to the architect’s specifications, along with 120 interior Vision Control units and low-profile door trims with horizontal louvers to provide much-needed privacy and sound dampening.

Altro’s award-winning, adhesive-free floors offer you enhanced comfort under foot and greater impact sound reduction. These solutions provide complete flexibility and feature our most advanced Altro Easyclean technology, while retaining the benefits of reduced installation time and 100% recyclability.

Caton Hill Medical Center brings state-of-the-art, single-facility comprehensive care to Northern Virginia. This new facility highlights Kaiser Permanente’s uniquely integrated health system by offering a full range of primary care, advanced specialty care, and convenient services under one roof.

Swiftstop Anti-Barricade Doorset with Full-Door Ligature Alarm is the safest doorset in Behavioral Health. In an emergency, this world-leading doorset alerts staff and provides access to a patient’s room in two seconds.

Taylor, A. Murakami, M., Kim, S., Chu R., Riek, L.D.  Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. Vol. 6, Issue CSCW2, Article No.: 442pp 1–40. https://doi.org/10.1145/3555543.

St. Elizabeth’s goal is to be the destination of choice in their region for cancer patients. Located at their Edgewood Hospital campus, the cancer program had outgrown their previous space and had become dispersed. This new 236,000 sf cancer center consolidates all services under one roof and promotes a compassionate place for wellness; provides flexible growth for future programs; promotes collaboration between medical staff; and inspires brand confidence. The design uses a combination of natural materials, soft geometry and emphasis on daylight create compassionate environments to elevate the patient and staff experience.

Joseph, A., Wingler, D., Zamani, Z., (2017). Balancing the Human Touch with the Need for Integrating Technology in Ambulatory Surgical Environments: Barriers and Facilitators to Nursing Work and Care Team Interactions

Major advances in medical technology - paired with changes in Medicare reimbursement policy - have led to rapid growth in outpatient surgery. While many of these advances are beneficial for healthcare organizations and patients, there are challenges in that there is still very little research focused on how the design of ambulatory surgery centers affects nursing work or the critical interactions between staff, patients, and families. In this study, researchers explore the relationship between the physical environment in pre-op and post-op areas of two ambulatory surgery centers.  This study highlights the vital importance of a systems view to understanding the healthcare environment. Taking a close look at the results, design teams may see opportunities to support better workflow through innovative design, including ways to locate pre-op and post-op areas to increase efficient use of the space at all times, not just at peak times.

This webinar highlights guidance on community crisis center planning, design, and construction to ensure maximum dignity and accurate diagnosis for individuals served within a safe and restorative environment of care. Presenters will share a care model that fills a gap in design recommendations for a standalone community crisis response that lies somewhere between intensive outpatient and acute hospital settings.