planning needs to be flexible Healthcare facility
By Hussain Varawalla, Mentor, Design Services, Hosmac, Mumbai, India
‘narrow floor plans, too many solid walls and low floor- to-ceiling heights do not permit the expansion and renewal of healthcare facilities that is the need of the time
IntroDuctIon Prior to the last 50 years, medical breakthroughs were unearthed not more than a couple of times per decade. The ‘60s and ‘70s witnessed some evolution in the field of organ transplant, non-invasive surgery, synthetic antibiotics, and in related fields to healthcare delivery such as communication systems, automated material movement systems and building systems technology applied to healthcare facility construction. In the 1980s, major medical innovations
came even more rapidly. With the ‘90s setting in, faster advances in medical technology were seen, together with new methodologies and mantras such as ‘patient- focused care’, ‘multi-skilled staff ’ and ‘paperless medical records’. Today however, things have further
changed. Tannis Chefurka, Faith Nesdoly and John Christie wrote: Decentralisation of services and staff to patient care units, resulting in multidisciplinary care teams Advances in communication/information
systems for patient profiling and charting, for communications among staff, and between diagnostic services and patient charts Continued clinical advances, many tending toward miniaturization and mobility Increased acuity of both inpatients and ambulatory patients prevalent in the hospital setting Increase in minimally invasive procedures, reducing the need for overnight admission Expansion of outpatient clinics and creation of ambulatory ‘themes’ through selective clustering Increased recognition of the family/ caregiver’s contribution to the healing process Gradual acceptance of the benefits of non- traditional modes of therapy such as massage therapy and acupuncture Expanded public awareness and access to information, fueling the consumers’ desire for the latest in diagnostic techniques and treatments Intensified point-of-care diagnostic testing Magnified clinical research integrated into patient care settings
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