Lake Health TriPoint Medical Center, located in Concord Township, opened its doors to patients a few short months ago, and is already receiving rave reviews, says Mary Ogrinc, Lake Health senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer. When designing this new facility, several components were included to create a haven that supports patients and families through illness and recuperation such as soothing colors and a lot of natural light. “It’s known that these elements promote healing and decrease pain,” says Ogrinc. “Natural light enables us to feel better. It’s the same kind of circadian rhythm that helps relax the body and promote tissue healing.”
If you’ve had the opportunity to visit TriPoint, or any other new hospital, it’s likely that you noticed the sun streaming through large, floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as an array of artwork, and lush, outdoor gardens to stroll through. These hotel-type amenities are part of a new design trend in healthcare settings in northeast Ohio and across the nation. The innovative, state-of-the-art facilities, also known as healing environments, are being developed to help patients connect with something other than pain and medical procedures. According to the Center for Health Design, a leading research and advocacy organization committed to enhancing the quality of healthcare through evidence-based design, healing environments improve patient outcomes by reducing stress, improving sleep and speeding recovery.
Art is healing, and it raises our spirits and improves our hopes
All the patient rooms at TriPoint are private to help prevent infection, provide less noise, and allow more visitations with family and friends. “Family members can stay overnight because hospitals can be scary for some people and having someone close by is desirable,” says Ogrinc. Each room includes a sleeper sofa, Internet access and a view of the gardens. To further help patients rest easier, caregivers converse through digital, wireless, pencil-like communicators worn around the neck pendant style, reducing loud overhead paging.
Warm, inviting TriPoint patient room
Connecting with nature and art are two other useful elements to help decrease stress and boost patient recovery rate explains Ogrinc. Patients and families at TriPoint can enjoy five peaceful, environmentally sensitive gardens on the premise, as well as observing more than 300 pieces of rotating artwork created primarily by Ohio artists.
“Art is healing, and it raises our spirits and improves our hopes,” says Michelle Cameron, RN, Cleveland Clinic’s assistant director of the healing solutions office of patient experience. There are more than 1,000 works of art distributed throughout the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Pavilion, the clinic’s new heart and vascular institute.
The Miller Pavilion opened in October 2008 and was created with a patient-centered approach in mind. Kelly Hancock, RN, MBA, and director for the heart and vascular institute, says: “We truly listened to the voice of patients, families and staff when designing the building, which begins with light-filled private rooms outfitted with readily available medical equipment that is hidden behind sliding doors to produce less anxiety for patients.” Each room also contains a pull-out sofa bed.“When we are able to welcome family and community into the area we are healing in, it helps our healing,” explains Cameron. “When a patient can remain in a more balanced state, not highly anxious or overly relaxed, the immune system functions better and the capacity to heal is better, and if you have the environment to support that balance, it helps the natural body rhythm function more fully and reduce stress.”
Among the Miller Pavilion’s numerous nurturing amenities, many appreciate the rooftop plaza to take advantage of the spectacular views of the city of Cleveland and Lake Erie. “A lot of the families find that it is a place for them to reconnect because it can be very draining when a family member is ill, so any place to rejuvenate is helpful,” says Cameron.
In the spring of 2011, University Hospitals will open the first freestanding cancer hospital in this region, one of 12 in the United States. “In terms of that opportunity and by the same token, that responsibility, we need to do everything in our power to infuse healing as part of the experience in receiving cutting-edge cancer treatment,” says Wendy Miano, vice president of University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center.
Artist's rendition of future UH Cancer Hospital
The UH Cancer Hospital will incorporate art, sustainable woods and materials, natural light, water features, a green space and a healing garden into the new facility. “These elements will provide both a serene and healing nature-set environment,” says Miano. Virginia Burt, Visionscapes Landscape architect for the UH project, says, “The intention for the healing garden is to create a place of respite, rejuvenation and restfulness, a place where all people at University Hospitals – patients, family members, caregivers, volunteers – have a place to take a breath.”
A number of patients and families were involved in the design process, says Miano, and asked for a whimsical touch, so actual photos and phrases from cancer patients offering words of thanks, strength, hope and resiliency will be added to a wall of hope, which will be a prominent feature in the radiation therapy area.
“Healing environments are created to enhance a patient’s ability to calm themselves in terms of anxiety and fear,” says Miano. “They can create a place for patients to distract themselves from the treatment they are going through, and that in essence restores a sense of peace.”
Author:
