Headshot credit: Niada Parker/TVS
In this series, Sanitary design asks leading healthcare design professionals, companies and owners to tell us what stands out to them and share their thoughts on the topic.
Niada Parker is an associate director and healthcare director at an architecture, interior design and planning firm. televisions (Atlanta).
Here, he shares the top five trends and issues drawing his attention right now, including demand for airborne isolation rooms, modular design, and behavioral health care spaces.
- Isolation rooms
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many facilities struggled to transition existing spaces to airborne and contact isolation rooms. Today, facilities are responding with building-wide strategies that pay more attention to specific HVAC needs, from standalone exhausts to stacked patient rooms. Isolation rooms should also provide some flexibility for a variety of healthcare services, so that patients do not have to be moved from room to room.
TVS recently collaborated with Level 1 trauma center Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta on an emergency flood remediation project, in which we equipped all isolation rooms with dialysis connections. This was not a simple solution, as moving patients to another unit for this treatment was risky and could cause destabilization and negatively affect other parts of their health. The adaptation provided greater flexibility and made patient care more fluid.
- Modular design
Modular and flexible design configurations continue to gain popularity, driven by the numerous benefits of reconfigurable systems, including reducing the amount of waste, dust and debris generated by integrated elements, as well as quality assurance.
Prefabricated doors, removable walls and modular structures help reduce the amount of construction waste produced from the start, and are inherently easier to reconfigure for future flexibility and mobility. From a quality perspective, modular builds are typically factory-built, meaning there is consistency in manufacturing and quality due to sheer repetition of production.
Factory-designed modular wall-hung boxes allow for easy removal and prevent costly disruption to treatment and patient rooms. Partitions, doors and modular assemblies allow for easier reconfiguration as census needs or apartment layouts change. Storage cabinets, sinks and other furniture solutions that have easy-to-clean surfaces and allow for quick setup are also being implemented.
- Sustainable solutions
Hospitals are, by nature, some of the largest users of energy and resources. Today, there is a movement to identify simple changes that will help reduce the carbon footprint of healthcare organizations. These strategies include systems to help reduce surgical waste and the use of toxic chemicals, as well as renewable energy sources such as solar panels and water reuse solutions.
Healthcare facilities are increasingly adopting LED lighting. Data analyzing the new lighting design of tool cove demonstrated that switching to LED lighting can produce a 30 percent reduction in energy use for many renovation projects, while also reducing replacement and routine maintenance costs. The TVS standard protocol according to the American Institute of Architects 2030 Commitment The sustainability challenge is to conduct a lighting study, enter the calculations into cove.tool, and analyze potential savings and reduction opportunities.
- Behavioral health
Health systems are grappling with the growing behavioral health crisis, especially among young people. The lack of inpatient and outpatient facilities, along with a shortage of physicians and qualified staff, is testing providers’ ability to effectively treat and manage different types of mental health issues.
Providers are responding by modernizing existing spaces or building new behavioral health facilities that are accessible, convenient, and designed with necessary safety features for patients and providers. Providing quick access to those who need it in a non-institutional setting is key.
Grady Memorial Hospital has also taken steps in this area, with a new 16-bed medical/psychological unit to meet the growing community need for concurrent treatment. This facility opened in October 2023 and offers adequate space for diagnosis, treatment, therapy, education and peer support services.
- Using technology to improve patient care
Incorporating new technologies that improve the patient experience is another ever-changing aspect for today’s designers. A priority has been to offer a more seamless experience for patients and staff, as evidenced by the growing popularity of interactive patient TVs and digital whiteboards that help organize information and entertainment, all in one place.
Much of the technology that personalizes the bedside experience and streamlines workflows is still being tested or slowly rolled out, to address some of the challenges surrounding technology upgrades. These issues include higher upfront costs, the need to reduce the number of conduits and data ports, and adequate training for hospital staff to use the new interfaces and service them in the event of a failure.
Niada Parker is associate director, director of healthcare, in televisions (Atlanta) and can be contacted at nparker@tvsdesign.com.
Do you want to share your Top 5? Contact Editor-in-Chief Tracey Walker at tracey.walker@emeraldx.com for shipping instructions.
