In the emergency department at F.F. Thompson Hospital in Canandaigua, N.Y., architects with Francis Cauffman employed the latest innovations in evidence-based design, including color-coded storage cabinets on wheels. Each color represents the kind of medical supplies stored inside.
At F.F. Thompson, the architects added windows to let in natural light. Seamless flooring makes cleaning easier and prevents the spread of contagions.
Wtih nearly 50 percent of patients being admitted to community hospitals through the emergency room, this department is increasingly considered a hospital's front door. At right, the entrance to F.F. Thompson's emergency department.
A plan of the emergency room shows the ring of private patient rooms (in orange) that encircles the staff area. The department runs on a separate HVAC system to prevent infectious diseases from spreading to the rest of the hospital.
The Metro Health Village in Wyoming, Mich. is the first hospital in the state to apply for LEED certification. In the emergency department, architects at HDR used both green and evidence-based design standards.
Hospital interiors (emergency department shown in rendering) will include materials like recyclable carpeting and renewable wood furniture.
The $20.7 million Metro Health Village, scheduled for completion later this year, will feature an expansive green roof that patient rooms will overlook.
The luminaire base slips snugly into the top of the extruded aluminum pole and is secured with stainless steel setscrews.
Health Alliance's West Chester Medical Center in Cincinnati is scheduled for completion in 2008. RTKL based its design for the emergency department on the hospital's medical protocols.
The emergency room at West Chester, which will have its own highly visible sign, has a decentralized layout, with a main staff area serving as a "spine." Pods or clusters of private patient rooms will attach to it, each one equipped with the necessary medical supplies.
