Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

‘A hospitality feel’: Designing the new Henderson Hospital

Henderson Hospital rendering

Courtesy

A rendering shows Henderson Hospital, which is expected to open in October 2016 at the corner of Gibson Road and Galleria Drive. The foundation for the hospital was poured Thursday, July 9, 2015.

Click to enlarge photo

This is a photo of an architectural rendering of Henderson Hospital, expected to open in October 2016 at the corner of Gibson Road and Galleria Drive. The foundation for the hospital was poured Thursday, July 9, 2015.

A styrofoam world exists on the third floor of Centennial Hills Hospital, complete with replicas of patient rooms, an emergency department, nurses’ station and neonatal intensive care unit. Scattered throughout are real chairs and couches, beckoning passersby to give them a try.

The Valley Health System transformed the empty hospital floor into a life-size mockup of future settings at Henderson Hospital, the 250,000-foot facility being built on the corner of Gibson Road and Galleria Drive. Months before construction crews moved dirt, a group of hospital employees toured the styrofoam landscape to test the design of the new facility — right down to the comfortableness of the furniture.

“It was nice to see users actually walk a space and determine if something was not right,” said Steven Wilson, principal of HMC Architects, which designed the hospital. “We’d cut it up or pull it off the wall and reconfigure it right there. We had real-time conversations between designers and users about how the space should function.”

As hospitals strive to be more patient-centered while also keeping their staffs happy, health care design has become increasingly important: There’s a trade magazine, business conference and even awards devoted to the topic. The goal, of course, is that each new hospital boasts a better environment than the last. Health systems are putting more thought into hospital design to improve patient outcomes, to reduce costs and to boost patient satisfaction scores, said Debra Levin, president and CEO of The Center for Health Design.

“Most people don’t think about the environment where they get care,” she said. “It’s not just about (being) pretty. Those decisions are really about the (health) outcomes.”

Those little touches start outside before patients and visitors even enter the hospital.

An abundance of trees and other landscaping will greet visitors as they drive in, reminiscent of a hotel entrance, Wilson said. When visitors enter the main lobby, elevators and a large cafeteria nearby will be easy to spot. (An outdoor barbecue area is in the works, too.) Further inside, color-coded hospital floors will serve as visual cues for people navigating the hallways to find loved ones.

In other words, the less confusing signage, the better. The design is meant to minimize visitors’ stress levels, Wilson said.

At 276 square feet, patient rooms will be larger than normal and reconfigurable for use as a medical-surgery or intensive-care room. Floor-to-ceiling windows, dimmable lights, temperature control and extra-large TVs in the rooms will improve the patient experience, Tina Coker, the Chief Nursing Officer, said. Other perks: high-performance ceiling tiles to cut down on the ambient noise and extra electrical outlets for visitors’ many gadgets.

And because hospitals worry about the spread of infection, germ-reducing mechanisms such as ultraviolet lights and door knobs made from anti-microbial materials were woven into the design.

But architects didn’t forget about the hospital staff either. Enclosed, multipurpose “hubs” for nurses and physicians will foster collaboration and be a repository for support materials, Wilson said. The hubs will be strategically located to reduce the medical staff’s distances walked each day.

As for the all-important color palette, hospitals officials are keeping mum for now, but Wilson said the shades used will be “up to date” and “extremely appealing.”

“We’re moving away from the institutional feel to a hospitality feel,” Wilson said. “Finishes are softer and give a more homey feel.”

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