More Healing

Healing Environments

Fresh air, garden views, natural light – nature works hand-in-hand with advanced medical care to help patients heal. In our new South Pavilion, every detail has been thoroughly researched and carefully designed to improve the care that patients receive, and the comfort they experience.

This emphasis on healing design is recognition that patients’ surroundings affect their well-being. By “surroundings,” we’re talking about everything that addresses the mind, body and spirit, and that incorporates all the senses – sound, sight, smell, touch and taste.  This includes the use of natural light, open space in atriums and walkways, noise reduction, patient privacy, and patient control over their environment.

The goal is to create a health facility that reduces patient stress, utilizes fewer medications and promotes rapid recovery.

According to the evidence, there are three primary ways in which a healing environment can influence patient outcomes:

• Medical care: A healing environment supports caregiver actions and medical interventions, making it easier for clinicians to do their jobs while facilitating helpful impacts. For example, the South Pavilion features 200 private rooms. While the majority of research around private rooms has been directed at patients, recent studies indicate that a combination of private room environments and other therapeutic design principles make the jobs of staff members much easier.
• Health status: A healing environment can help alleviate a patient’s existing conditions. One design element of the South Pavilion is privacy windows into patient rooms. This provides the ability to view the patient from the hall, helping to visualize yet protect patient privacy, keep doors closed for noise reduction, and improve patient sleep by allowing doors to be closed at night.

• Causes of illness: A healing environment protects patients from causes of illness.  At the South Pavilion, improved air quality and circulation systems help protect patients from debilitating hospital-borne infections.