The Holistic NICU

Designing an Environment for Every Aspect of the Patient's Development

by Jeffrey S. Monzu, AIA, NCARB

A neonatal intensive care unit can be designed to advance a premature or sick patient’s health and development, and to support the crucial roles of family members and caregivers. The Nebraska Medical Center’s Hixson-Lied Neonatal Intensive Care Unit accomplished just that: a state-of-the-art healthcare environment that is sensitive to both family needs and medical necessity. To that end, key members of the design team included nurses who work in the unit, and a family whose child had been a patient at the hospital’s
previous NICU.

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Healthcare Exterior Design: Grounds for Healing

By Gregory J. Wieland, AIA

This is the second in a two-part series on how healthcare facility exteriors can contribute to the creation of a healing environment keeping green and sustainable considerations in mind.

Good healthcare facility design has no limits, even when it comes to energy efficiency and environmental issues. Through careful planning and innovative thinking, hospitals and other medical buildings can be healthy for the environment and for the people who use them. Sometimes the biggest opportunities lie in the small but significant planning and design decisions made in the early stages. Here are some options to consider.

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The Future of Healthcare

Singapore offers new strategies for disease control, disaster preparedness and sustainability

By Steve Gifford, AIA, & Mitch Green, AIA

Today, facilities like Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, a 102,245-squaremeter, 550-bed replacement hospital on the boards at RMJM Hillier and CPG Consultants Pte Ltd., are prime examples of this movement, offering
novel approaches to environmental sustainability and climate control, patient care, and disease and disaster management — new strategies that will become the model of cuttingedge facility design for healthcare institutions in the United States and around the world.

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