The Star Treatment

By Brian McFarlane, AIA, Photos by John Davis

Dallas’ Children’s Medical Center offers Disney-like, on-stage and off-stage approach to patient care.

Star treatment isn’t just a slogan, it is a way of business at Children’s Medical Center Ambulatory Care Pavilion in Dallas. From complimentary valet services to call-ahead scheduling and pre-registration, this center is setting itself apart in the healthcare arena with its “Are You Treated Like a Star? initiative, which encourages patients and families to rate their healthcare experience.

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A business Case for Commissioning New Hospitals

By Michelle Halle Stern

Building owners’ recent interest in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System has created a “buzz? about commissioning. But few know exactly what commissioning is and how it impacts hospitals.

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The HVAC Revolution Gains (Geothermal) Heat

By John Guzzon

The nation’s newest lake-coupled geothermal system is under construction outside Chicago

When Great River Medical Center’s new 700,000 square foot Greenfield Replacement Hospital and Medical Complex opened in Burlington, Iowa in 2000, it was immediately a trendsetter. It was the only hospital in the U.S. to be heated and cooled by a lake-coupled geothermal system. It was also the largest lake-coupled geothermal system in the country—a system that can produce more than 1,500-tons of cooling.

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