Healthcare Facilities’ Design Evolution

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Why Healthcare Facility’s Design is Important
Modern Days. Standard Sanitary Co, Kentucky
References

Introduction

The design of a healthcare facility is a complicated process that should involve three primary aspects: form, function, and quality. Individuals involved in the design of any type of healthcare facility are required to analyze every component of human life. Such facilities serve as places for people to temporarily live in to complete the treatment, to work in saving lives, to be born in, or to visit (Bensalem, n.d., p. 1).

Why Healthcare Facility’s Design is Important

Healthcare facilities span across a large variety of types that range from small private clinics to large hospitals that not only treat patients but also teach new medical personnel. Thus, the expression that there will never be a chance to make a second first impression is also largely applied to the design of a healthcare facility which should be able to convey a distinct message to its visitors and residents. In its essence, the design of a healthcare facility is targeted at conveying a feeling of safety and relief, so when a patient or a staff member enters it, there is no room for doubt and worrying (Carr, 2014, p. 1). The differentiation of the various healthcare facilities’ design has led to the growth in the number of the provided health care services. A wide range of facilities can be divided into hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation, and psychiatric facilities, nursing homes and assisted living facilities, and many more.

1930’s. Public Hospitals

The hospitals created in the 1930s looked nothing like the healthcare facilities look in modern times. Created to address the increase in the spreading of diseases, the majority of the hospitals operated on no funding from the community. The primary stakeholders were the doctors that donated their time to teaching new personnel and treating the overflowing amount of patients.

1940’s. Thief River Falls, Minnesota

With the help of the Hill-Burton Act, put into action by President Harry Truman in 1946, the state of Minnesota received grants for the expansion of the healthcare facility sector in the region. Hospitals built at that time were distinctively different from the hospitals built three or four decades later. The 1949 Thief River Falls hospital was more of a converted home rather than a carefully designed hospital. Some hospitals did not even have an elevator to carry the patients up and down, so the staff was forced to carry the patients up or down the stairs. Furthermore, such facilities did not even have a sprinkler system to protect the patients from possible fire (Knudsen, n.d., p. 145).

1950’s. St. Francis, Georgia

Founded in 1950 by a group of diverse community leaders in the city of Columbus, St. Francis is a community hospital that offers unsurpassed care for patients to this day (St. Francis, n.d., para. 1). In terms of design, the building of the hospital is a bright example of minimal mid-century buildings with large windows and streamlined facades. This type of design is the evidence of the efficiency the primary stakeholders of the community wanted to achieve: instead of focusing on the aesthetic aspects of the facility, the maximum attention was paid to the way the hospital can perform to a maximum.

1970’s. Northside Hospital, Georgia

The Northside Hospital was established in 1970 with 250 beds available (Northside Hospital, n.d., para. 3). The design of the facility is reminiscent of the minimalist design inherent to the St. Francis hospital; however, there is a great difference in the size of the facility. With the rise of the demand for more healthcare services thus more hospital beds, the Northside Hospital was created to cater to the needs of as many patients as possible, emphasizing practicality once again. Thus, when comparing the facilities built in the 20 years, the increase of hospital room sizes, as well as the overall size of the facility, is evident.

1990’s. South Shore Hospital, Massachusetts

Established in the 1990s as the main provider of pediatric care in the region, South Shore Hospital is a bright example of the way hospitals were built at the end of the twentieth century. With the development of new medical technologies, healthcare facilities were created to correspond with innovation. With a monolithic foundation and big light windows, the building of the South Shore Hospital enforces the feeling of safety and assurance, primary feelings that should be conveyed by the design of a healthcare facility.

Modern Days. Standard Sanitary Co, Kentucky

The modern healthcare facility design is based on the notions of aesthetic pleasure and efficiency combined into one. A great example is the Standard Sanitary Center that has been renovated in 2013 by the CMTA Engineers and JRA Architects to offer a new take on the dated design. Initially built in 1925, the building of the facility was a historic masonry structure that consisted of five floors (Wiser, 2016, para. 4). The team of architects visited various healthcare facilities to determine which components of the building should be modified for the building to become more aesthetically pleasing without interfering with its historical significance.

References

Bensalem, S. (n.d.). Sustainable Healthcare Architecture. Web.

Carr, R. (2014). Health Care Facilities. Web.

Knudsen, H. (n.d.). Chapter 6. Hospitals and Long-Term Care Facilities. Web.

Northside Hospital. (n.d.). About Us.Web.

St. Francis. (n.d.). About Us. Web.

Wiser, S. (2016). Historic Renovation Offers Lessons in Adaptive Reuse. Web.

Click Here To Order Now!