Archive for October, 2011
Healthcare Design: Are you Hopeful About the Industry?
I am an optimistic person so I am always hopeful about most things. There is a lot of good work being done. You see a lot of it in Healthcare Design Magazine, a monthly magazine. Compared to 1992 when my book, Hospital Interior Architecture, came out there was virtually no place where people could go to see good hospital design because magazines like that weren’t available. The Internet wasn’t available so even doing research was difficult then. I am hopeful because we are in a time of turmoil right now. We are in a time of re-education. It’s like going back to grad school. I firmly believe we have to look at hospital design through new lenses. (more…)
Design for Hospitals: How Can Design Help with Infection Control? (Part 2)
Continued from Design for Hospitals: How Can Design Help with Infection Control? (Part 1):
Greg and Stacey Renker Pavilion, Rancho Mirage, CA
Manufacturers of healthcare furniture have become so good, in the last few years, at creating furniture that has great functional capabilities yet looks terrific. It looks almost residential or like hospitality furniture. But now, when you understand what the CDC guidelines require, the germicidal agents that hospitals are required to use will strip the paint off a car. Just imagine using these after every patient, or even daily when the same patient is in the room…every day, cleaning the wood arms of a chair or upholstery fabrics with these highly caustic chemicals. They are not going to last very long. So what is the solution? (more…)
Design for Hospitals: How Can Design Help with Infection Control? (Part 1)
Eisenhower Medical Center, Rancho Mirage, CA
It’s hard to answer this in less than 17 paragraphs, but there are many issues. For example, if you are planning a patient room, while we don’t have strong evidence at this moment, it appears that placing the handwash sink close to the entry of the room, as opposed to behind the door (so you don’t have to walk around the door to wash your hands), makes it more likely the care team will use the sink to wash their hands. There are many other issues as well. (more…)
Jain Malkin
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