Newsbreak
Patient care and comfort top priorities at Mission Bay medical center
By Kate Schoen
The new medical center at Mission Bay is envisioned to set the standard for patient-centered and family-centered care.
Every aspect of the new children’s, women’s and cancer hospitals – from the exterior design to the materials used in patient rooms – has been carefully planned to better serve patients, according to Cindy Lima, executive director of administration at UCSF Medical Center, who oversees the Mission Bay hospital project.
“Overall, the facilities will be spectacular – contemporary, appealing and sophisticated,” Lima says. “Patients and their families will benefit from a beautiful and soothing environment that is more like a sun-drenched retreat than a hospital.”
Design, construction, operations and purchasing strategies for the new medical center will integrate the best green practices available, and will incorporate leading-edge discoveries from evidence-based design, the body of knowledge demonstrating that the physical environment can positively affect health, healing, safety and well-being.
“We know intuitively and research shows that an important factor in healing is providing an environment and services that support patients and their families,” Lima says. “We have planned carefully along these lines.”
For example, the new medical center will offer patient and family amenities such as concierge and on-demand food services, in-room family sleeping accommodations, living areas with a kitchen and valet parking.
“In addition, art, areas of respite and unique spaces for children address the emotional and psychological needs of those we serve,” Lima says.
Natural Environment
In fact, the hospital complex will feature nearly three acres of publicly accessible open space, as well as rooftop gardens and landscaped courtyards, where patients and families can relax.
For those patients unable to leave their rooms, nature will come to them. The new women’s specialty hospital, for example, will include specially designed rooms for patients who are prescribed bed rest due to pregnancy complications, explains Nancy Milliken, vice dean of the UCSF School of Medicine and director of the UCSF National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health.
“Each of those rooms has been designed so that a woman will have her own private garden to look out on,” Milliken says. “It will create a natural, tranquil and calming space that is all her own.”
The hospital complex has been designed to deliver an abundance of daylight to every patient care unit. With 75 percent of patient rooms having a northern or southern orientation, the majority of units will receive direct sunlight during the day without glare. These types of features will help relax patients and alleviate their anxieties, thereby aiding the healing process, according to Gerrie Shields, administrative director of clinical services at UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“There’s no doubt that having a cancer diagnosis presents a huge amount of anxiety and stress, not only to the patient, but to the family as well,” Shields says. “I think anytime you can be in a physical environment that envelops you in a more relaxed and positive state, it helps tremendously.”
Family-Focused Amenities
For UCSF’s younger patients, the new children’s hospital at Mission Bay will ensure compassionate care for every child, no matter how complex the need. The building’s creative design will make children feel comfortable and welcome, with special child-focused amenities like a state-of-the-art schoolroom, a teen room and a technology area, where they can stay connected to friends and family.
“When kids come to our new facility, they will know they are entering a place where they don’t have to be afraid – where their parents know they will get not only the best medical care, but will be spending time in a nurturing environment,” says Roxanne Fernandes, executive director of UCSF Children’s Hospital.
The hospital complex is also designed with the family’s needs in mind. All children and newborns staying in the children’s hospital will have spacious, single-patient rooms that include sleeping accommodations for family members. At the new women’s hospital, children who come to visit their mothers will have access to playgrounds and other areas where they can go and just be kids.
“When women come into the hospital, they can’t relinquish their role as mothers,” Milliken says. “Having a space where kids can go out and run around will make visits more comfortable for both mother and child, and it won’t be as frightening for the child to go to the hospital.”
Patient safety is another top priority at the new UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay. The buildings will incorporate a variety of specific, evidence-based design elements that enhance safety practices, including single-bed rooms to decrease hospital-acquired infections, “smart beds” that communicate information to staff and electronically administered medication to help eliminate errors.
“Patient safety has been at the core of the design from the start,” Lima says. “From reducing falls to eliminating infections, these facilities incorporate the best known practices to date.”
A highly efficient ventilation system also will be installed, allowing fresh outdoor air to reach all spaces within the medical center. In addition, only the most carefully screened materials will be used throughout the interior and exterior of the medical center to reduce the harm caused by environmental toxins.
“My hope is that patients will feel comfortable when they walk into the new hospital and be confident that they are in the hands of the best clinicians available,” Lima says.