Latest Advances in Hospital Design: The New Parkland Hospital

Last week  Healthcare Design Magazine, American Institute of Architects, Academy of Architecture for Health, and The Center for Healthcare Design hosted a conference in Dallas, bringing more than 125 architects, engineers and designers from around the country to learn about the latest advances in hospital design.

Dallas was the chosen location because the conference hosts wanted to spotlight the new Parkland Hospital.  They felt that it would be a good hands-on experience and a perfect case study of what is to come for future healthcare design.

The challenges in building a healthcare facility have not really changed.  However, the process has come a long way.  Designers, architects, engineers, and  organizational sustainability & energy conservation specialists are now coming together to collaborate in the beginning stages of the layout and design process for new construction projects.  Different from their previous ”hand-off approach”,  the new strategy of early collaboration has proved more efficient and has helped to keep projects on-track and on budget.

Design professionals from all over the country gathered and took a hard hat tour through the new Parkland Hospital and interacted with project consultants, clinical liaisons, architects, design engineers and facilities planning and development directors.

“Design professionals from all over the country gathered here to learn from our experience in designing a health care facility for the 21st century.” –  Parkland’s Walter Jones, Senior Vice President of Facilities Planning and Development.

Parkland staff conducted seminars and led tours of the hospital, scheduled to open in 2015.  Highlights and concepts that lead the future in hospital design include innovative patient-centered healing concepts incorporating the latest research into the design such as:

•  Large windows with pleasing views of nature or the cityscape in all rooms
•  All rooms in the facility are private
•  Beautifully landscaped one-acre park offering direct access to nature
•  All rooms feature “same-handed” layout for flexibility and easy conversion to a variety of clinical services to meet demand
•  Decentralized nursing stations that facilitate a more direct approach to patient care
•  On-stage, off-stage circulation patterns that segregate patients and visitors from staff and support services via separate corridors and elevators, resulting in a quieter, more therapeutic environment
• Sustainability is another key design focus, and Parkland is targeting the LEED® Silver designation for good stewardship in use of environmental and conservation features

The new Parkland hospital is an expansive 2.5 million square feet comprised of 862 inpatient beds, 108 emergency treatment rooms, 24 operating rooms and 96 neonatal unit beds, with more than 30,000 people expected to pass through its doors each day. To learn more about the project, visit http://newparkland.parklandhospital.com.