Insights & Solutions

Zimring, C., Denham, M. E., Jacob, J. T., Kamerow, D.B., Lenfesty, N., Hall, K. K., Steinberg, J. P. (2013). The role of facility design in preventing healthcare-associated infection: Interventions, conclusion, and research needs. Health Environments Research & Design Journal, 7(Suppl), pp. 127-139.

This Ambulatory Care Center Design Tool (ACCDT), developed by Dr. Anjali Joseph and Dr. Zahra Zamani from Clemson University in collaboration with The Center for Health Design (CHD), builds upon a series of papers, best practice case studies and in-depth literature reviews conducted by CHD as well as CHD's Clinic Design Post-Occupancy Evaluation Toolkit – Tool 2 Audit of Physical Environment with additions from a thesis by Crews (2013). The tool supports design teams in making key design decisions about ambulatory care centers linked to evidence based design goals and principles.

Learn about: reasons why traditional acute care fails to meet the needs of older adults, acute care risks that contribute to poor outcomes among older adults, and design strategies for supportive acute care environments.

The goal of this project was to design a state of the art regional medical referral center configured for optimal patient care that features easily accessible services and a healing environment that inspires hope and confidence, promotes operational efficiency, and permits cost effective facility adaptation to changing technology and care delivery. 

The goal for this project was to set a new standard and image of healthcare delivery, using EBD to achieve positive patient outcomes within the expanding hospital system.  

The goal for this project was to rebuild an old nursing home creating a high-end, cutting-edge innovative rehabilitation center to help those with disabilities. Additionally, the center had an imperative to integrate the development and testing of new healthcare technologies and processes.

The goal for this project was to improve infection control flow patterns and to reduce surgery room turn around time.

The goal for this project was to create a highly realistic participatory learning experiences in an environment that does not involve an actual patient. This method of teaching is rapidly becoming a new standard in both primary and continuing education for health professionals. The intent is to improve learning experiences through improved personal and technical skills and interdisciplinary team communications in an environment designed and built around current evidence-based medicine, evidence-based practice and evidence-based design knowledge.

The goal for this project was to create a world-class facility using evidence-based design (EBD), LEED, and patient- and family–centered strategies. The re-design of the Ft. Bliss Army Medical Center not only took into account the Military Health System (MHS) World-Class Checklist, but also information gathered from 14 EBD working groups to further influence the design. 

The passage of healthcare reform has increased the demand for healthcare services in communities all across the country. For many hospitals, this translates into the need for more beds and bigger facilities. But with the current emphasis on providing high quality care in a cost effective setting, the truth is that in today’s challenging marketplace, bigger isn’t necessarily better.