Spatial design review of an emergency department plan

As part of an expansion plan, a healthcare system in New York was looking to renovate an older emergency department. They engaged our team of strategic design consultants to review the current architectural plans to ensure an enhanced patient experience and alignment with the long-term strategy of the overall health system.

Our healthcare design consultants analyzed the existing plans along with the market demographics, technology trends, and patient and staff needs to provide recommendations and a revised spatial design. They specifically looked at:

• Increasing patient access to day light,
• Reducing necessary staff steps
• Improving staff visibility of patient rooms

The new environment provides a friendly atmosphere and can have a positive effect on the experience of everyone using the facility including patients, family, and hospital staff.

Calculations of the proposed design compared to the current architect’s plan show the following improvements:

• Patient rooms which will have access to direct or indirect daylight increases to 97%
• Nurses will have clear visibility over 82% of the patient rooms
• For the staff to collect medication, supplies, and equipment from storage and bring to a patient room, the number of steps was reduced by 49%