Sourced by: Orange County Business Journal
We can’t ignore the impacts that the last few years have had on our everyday existence. They affected every aspect of our day, how we work, how we socialize, how we shop, and how we take care of ourselves. Public and private spaces have made adjustments post-pandemic, but none more than those providing healthcare and wellness: hospitals, doctor’s offices, urgent care clinics, countless ambulatory surgical centers, and specialized practitioners. Telemedicine can only do so much, meaning places that required in-person contact quickly made changes to satisfy their clients and ease their fears. Many of us who postponed regular check-ups and non-urgent or elective treatments are just now booking those appointments, and the floodgates of medical care are open.
Increasingly, those healthcare and wellness providers looking for changes have come to designers like H. Hendy Associates (Hendy) in Newport Beach for consultation and solutions. At Hendy, Carolina Weidler, Principal and Director of the Science & Technology Studio works closely with Kong Nguyen, Director of the Healthcare & Wellness Studio to problem-solve. Together they design spaces that provide patients and providers healthy and welcoming environments. Spaces that make people start to feel better the moment they walk through the door.
While many businesses no longer require six-foot social distancing, they are retaining the important lessons learned from the pandemic. Modernized wayfinding in facilities keep bodies in motion and ease patient anxiety; upgraded HEPA filtered HVAC systems and indoor greenery improve air quality; contactless technologies reduce touchpoints of transmission; and outdoor spaces have become more utilized for waiting areas and communal settings.
Here are some of Hendy’s insights for healthcare and wellness providers looking to make these changes:
- Personalized Care for a Memorable Patient Experience: Physicians and health systems are realizing that a patient’s overall experience during a visit matters. It’s not enough to hang a flat screen TV and place magazines on a coffee table. Wellbeing and healing should start the moment a patient arrives. Waiting rooms are often the most neglected spaces supplying a bare minimum of comfort. In reality, they are the first impression and face of a business; and shouldn’t be relegated to an afterthought. There are many details to take into account including furniture, lighting, acoustics, privacy screens, and more.
- Making Space for Technological Innovation: The miracle of modern medicine increasingly advances through improvements in technology and the introduction of new tools and systems. With those new machines and equipment comes a need to reevaluate and reassign space in exam rooms and treatment areas. In essence a “resizing” must occur. For example, x-ray imaging has become so sophisticated that some new machines occupy half the space of the older ones, essentially freeing up valuable real estate for other purposes. Additionally, some doctors are providing high-tech consultation rooms equipped with screens for presentations to educate a patient before a procedure.
- Healthcare Employees Also Deserve Happiness: While all these exciting changes are happening in healthcare offices and buildings with the goal of benefitting patients, employers must not lose sight of the vital role that healthcare employees play and how company culture plays a big part in retaining them. The medical field is widely specialized and notoriously hard to staff. A happy employee is a loyal employee, and investments in creating a good workplace pay off in the long run. In this competitive job market, employers are wise to create environments that also cater to their workers and show them they are valued.
- Wellness is Everywhere: Hendy’s work in providing healthy environments is not limited to healthcare spaces as we have the capability to provide the WELL building standard in any of our designs, be it a multifamily building or corporate headquarters. Here at Hendy, our experienced team of WELL-accredited, licensed interior architects have been guiding Orange County businesses through space planning for over 40 years, creating workplace environments that promote employee wellbeing, deliver on business objectives and provide optimal return on investment.
Hendy’s complete redesign of Metagenics’ 5,000-square-foot Aliso Viejo clinic is a great example of our capabilities. The final space included chiropractic and massage therapy rooms, as well as rooms for lifestyle education and lab work. The company’s emphasis on health and wellness influenced the design team to create an environment with the goal of putting people first – whether that meant patients, health care providers or employees. Extensive research on traditional medical offices as well as progressive clinics ultimately lead to an open and flexible design, embracing the future of technological advancements. Biophilic elements were tied in with natural materials, organic patterns, and daylight infuses as many patient-facing areas as possible. This is just one example of what Hendy is capable of providing to clients.
We will continue to grow and innovate at Hendy, with driven leaders, strong company culture, and amazingly talented people. Our Healthcare and Wellness studio is just one part of what we are doing.