Caring@Home blog welcomes this guest post by Angela Kryhul, business editor, copywriter and principal of Kryhul Media Group.
Can a hospital?s architectural and interior design, and its proximity to communities and natural surroundings, be a catalyst to patient recovery and wellness?
The administrators at Bridgepoint Health believe so and
they?ve integrated this thinking into the new hospital being built at the
corner of Toronto?s Broadview Ave. and Gerrard St. E.
Health and wellness services have been offered on the historic site ever since the House of Refuge was established there in 1860. It became one of the first public hospitals in Toronto in 1869 when it helped to contain a smallpox epidemic. Located along the eastern edge of the city?s Don River Valley, the new Bridgepoint hospital will replace the site?s existing hospital (known for decades as Riverdale Hospital), a distinctive semi-circular?building.
The new Bridgepoint Hospital is scheduled to open in April 2013, and will focus on complex chronic disease and disability care. Patients will be coping with multiple ailments such as diabetes, cancer and musculoskeletal conditions. This is a complex patient who carries a fairly high burden of illness and disability and who spends a lot of time in hospitals and doctors? offices, explains Marian Walsh, president and CEO of Bridgepoint Health.
Fifty-seven per cent of Ontarians over age 65 live with three or more chronic diseases, according to Bridgepoint Health. And complex continuing care patients typically stay in hospital for up to three months, according to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
All aspects of the new building have been designed to get patients out of their rooms, proactive about managing their illnesses, and motivated to return to their communities. For example, instead of taking meals in their rooms, patients will be encouraged to eat and socialize in communal dining rooms that will be located on each floor. Patient rooms will be more visitor-friendly and there will be several visitor lounges. The building will have an Internet caf?, spiritual room, rooftop garden, outside terraces and hairdressing services.
Barrier-free patient rooms, wide corridors, handrails and infection control rooms have been designed with patient safety and comfort in mind. The hospital will have only single and double rooms where private three-piece bathrooms will mean better infection prevention.
?This hospital leads new thinking about the role of hospitals, how they?re designed and the features that will aid the rehabilitative and restorative processes that inspire health and wellness,? says Walsh.
Architects also designed the exterior of the building to encourage wellness: 472 vertical windows represent the exact number of beds the new facility will hold, and the vertical orientation of the windows symbolically represents patients getting back on their feet and into their communities.
Windows in every patient room will supply plentiful natural light and offer spectacular, panoramic views of the city skyline to the west and the Riverdale neighbourhood to the east. Views of Lake Ontario to the south and Riverdale Park to the north allow patients to stay connected to nature.
That integration with the outdoors is critical, says Jane Merkley, vice-president of programs, services and professional affairs, and chief nurse executive for Bridgepoint Health. ?Many of our patients have eight or nine chronic health issues. For months they?ve been in acute care hospitals and therefore have an illness focus. We want to take away the sense that the hospital is an end destination for them.?
The Hospital will have an inviting positive atmosphere, welcoming patients, family members and the community, a far cry from our existing institutions.
The main floor will feature glass walls, food concessions, retail outlets, learning centres, office space, an auditorium, and an alluring outdoor terrace with steps to parkland. ?The role of family members and other visitors, and the whole social environment for patients is hugely important,? explains Greg Colucci, principal at Diamond Schmitt Architects. ?They need spaces that are conducive to a return to wellness.?
The landscaping deliberately blurs the boundaries between public and private property, Colucci continues. Visitors can wander through barrier-free Bridgepoint?s gardens and walkways where interpretive displays will communicate the history and significance of the site and promote mobilization, meditation and mental health.
For the first time, without compromising patient and staff security, pedestrians can marvel in the tranquility of health and wellbeing as they pass through the property. Not only a facility of health, a hospitable retreat for the community.
For staff, there will be decentralized nurses? stations on every floor, windowed staff lounges, wellness programs, a fitness centre, and, because it?s a University of Toronto-affiliated community teaching hospital, clinical training labs and educational resources.
The goal, ultimately, is for hospitals like the futuristic Bridgepoint, to better meet the needs of the communities they serve.
(The Globe and Mail newspaper first published a version of this article on Monday, Dec. 10, 2012.)
Angela Kryhul is an award-winning business editor, copywriter and project manager. Her company, Kryhul Media Group, creates engaging and informative content for websites, social media and print. Contact Angela at www.kryhul.com.
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