ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Simpler patient journeys and collaborative care
Catherine Zeliotis, senior associate and Healthcare leader at global architectural practice, Stantec, discusses ‘the innovative approach to building design and layout’ used to facilitate simplified patient journeys and integrated treatment pathways at the Taussig Cancer Center at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
Around the world, specialist provision for the treatment and care of cancer patients is changing. Some of that change is being driven by advances in treatments that are improving outcomes and prolonging life, while equally, some is being driven by research and the need for science professionals to work more closely with clinical practitioners, managers, and patients, to bring more innovative treatments into routine use faster and at lower risk than ever before. The cohesive element that brings together advanced treatments and pioneering research is the patient. A genuine understanding that the patient journey is both the catalyst and facilitator for improvements in treatment and care has been at the heart of creativity in cancer centre design for the past decade, prompting some truly inspirational healthcare environments.
As a healthcare specialist, Stantec has delivered many of these forward-focused cancer treatment projects, including the Guy’s Cancer Centre in London, opened by the Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust last year, and the Taussig Cancer Center at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. For both projects, we worked closely with the client to build into the design process new insights in cancer treatment pathways and patient journeys, balancing the client’s vision and aesthetic expectations with practical considerations of workflows and circulation, inter- disciplinary collaboration, translational research, and patient wellbeing.
Developing the brief
Appointed as the healthcare architect for the Taussig Cancer Center, Stantec worked with the Cleveland Clinic to develop the brief and explore which services were to be included in the building, the quantity of provision for each service, and the optimum layout for the building. All these considerations fed into achieving the core vision for treatment to be delivered by tumour type, with interdisciplinary care provided in a
specific and dedicated location. “It’s an environment where the patients are in one place that is tailored to their needs, and everyone comes to them,” explained Dr Nathan Pennell, director of thoracic malignancies at the Taussig Cancer Center.
Part of the strategy for the new Taussig Cancer Center was to combine all ambulatory treatment and care in a single building while minimising the physical journey to the Cancer Center from the existing oncology inpatient services, given that direct proximity was not possible. The first question to be answered was the location for the building on campus. The masterplan developed by Foster + Partners for the Cleveland Clinic’s 166- acre campus is centred around a ‘green spine.’ Stantec worked with William Rawn Associates to design a building that would enable visual connectivity between the internal space and the outdoors.
An ‘elegant and simple plan’ Thanks to the location and orientation of the plot, we were able to design the building onto an elegant and simple plan, dividing the rectangular floorplate into north and south zones.
Catherine Zeliotis.
The north zone – the location for the chemotherapy infusion suites – provides a relaxing treatment environment where patients can benefit from views of green space and natural light penetration without over-exposure to the sun. Meanwhile, the south zone features the clinics, where patients have consultations with their clinical team. Sandwiched between the two zones, and running the entire length of the floor, are back-of- house staff and clinical support areas. The staff move seamlessly and unobtrusively between clinics and infusion treatment areas, providing opportunity for maximising multidisciplinary care. The patient lifts, reception, and waiting areas,
Thanks to the location and orientation of the plot, Stantec was able to design the building onto ‘an elegant and simple plan’, dividing the rectangular floorplate into north and south zones.
October 2018 Health Estate Journal 51
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116