NEWS ARCHIVES
Nursing News:
Hospitals are redeŜning the term the healing artsı with innovative architecture
by MARY VUONG
When he set out to redesign a building for cancer patients, Jerry Yin turned to Taoism.
He surrounded patients and staff with reflections of nature. A man-made waterfall just outside the entrance, the steady stream muffling a bustling downtown. A rooftop garden and views of the outdoors for patients clocking hours of chemotherapy.
³I created a place that deals with deadly disease while celebrating life,² said Yin, the lead designer for Swedish Cancer Instituteıs renovation and expansion last year.
Hospitals here and nationally are increasingly focused on healing the whole person through building design and furnishings. Theyıre considering more than clinical needs, fixing more than physical ailments by considering the therapeutic benefits of art, how certain colors can stir emotions, even what comforts to extend to anxious, waiting families.
³It began with women taking control of birthing² about a decade ago, said Rick Wade, senior vice president of the American Hospital Association. Aided by the resurgence of nurse midwives and the rising number of female physicians, pregnant women abandoned sterile operating rooms for a homier birthing room. Theyıve even taken pets into the delivery area.
Among the newer touches in local facilities: Earthy colors on the walls and floors; private rooms in emergency departments, both for treating patients and waiting families; even furniture that evokes home or hotel more than hospital. And plenty of art, natural light and views.
³As light and airy and cheery as possible,² said Dr. Albert Einstein Jr., executive director of Swedish Cancer Institute.
And heıs just talking about the basement level.
Swedish cancer patient James Stotts, with his wife, June, arrives from Bainbridge Island three times a month for chemotherapy. The couple requested the less private area, adjacent to a rooftop garden and complete with ceiling-mounted televisions, over the darker ³dungeon.²
³Light and airy,² June Stotts agreed.
Yet, what matters most to James Stotts is the quality of medical care and employees. ³I donıt pay much attention to the art when I go in,² he said.
Yet, art commands significant attention from medical centers; some appoint committees that select and commission pieces.
³Art is part of a mission of healing and not of challenging,² said Peggy Weiss, art program manager at Harborview Medical Center and a board member of Society for the Arts in Healthcare. ³I feel like the view of the hospital is weıre really here to help the whole person ... art can contribute to that.²
Swedishıs art consultant, Dianne Elliott, picks works by Northwest artists that are ³pleasingly provocative² and ³engaging, not disturbing.² Rejected works included a pendulum piece that could induce nausea and a painting of tanks deemed too militant.
Even what colors to paint the walls is significant, Einstein said. Red reminds many patients of blood, yellow of urine.
Administrators say they havenıt sacrificed any essentials, such as updating technology, for pure aesthetics.
But ³we did feel strongly that the aesthetics had an important role to play,² Einstein said. ³We werenıt about to give up on the water feature unless we absolutely, absolutely had no choice.²
Thereıs also a growing focus to ensure visitors are comfortable, from offering coffee and tea in waiting rooms to enlisting art, colors and similar floor plans not wordy signs to direct traffic.
Many of those interviewed cited Childrenıs Hospital & Regional Medical Center as a leader in this area. ³Parents have to be here,² said Lynel Westby, director of patient and family support services at Childrenıs. ³They have to be our partner.²
Childrenıs provides sleeping and shower facilities with laundry and lockers and has even solicited public input on what bedside chair to use in patient rooms. Adults can only enter the ³Teen Center,² equipped with video games, books and computer, with a teen.
University of Washington Medical Center and Group Health Eastside Hospital, among others, offer such conveniences as microwaves, refrigerators, washers and dryers.
Harborview plans a quiet meditative space for individuals of any religion. UWıs ambulatory surgery pavilion, scheduled to open this fall, will provide Internet access in its waiting area and, along with the usual espresso bar, offer a tearoom.
At Northwest Hospital & Medical Center, visitors can ³step outside and catch their breath briefly² on the grounds, which includes a manmade waterfall, raised herb gardens and metal sculptures, lead groundskeeper Robert Bettinger said.
³This hasnıt been done in a vacuum,² said John Blanchard, director of pacific ambulatory clinics at UW Medical Center.
That means focus groups and comment cards and input from all directions. ³Over the last decade, there really has been this movement toward including the patient and familyıs perspective in how you do hospital operations and how you design your environment,² said Tracey Gooding, director of patient relations at Harborview.
³People always do surveys, but who cares if you donıt do anything with them? Itıs just words.²
Said Sherry Stoll, hospital administrator for Group Health Cooperative, ³When you get all that feedback, eventually you go, Aha!ı ³
Printed with permission of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.