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When you design community hospitals and other healthcare facilities for a living, the real test of success isn’t the facility but the facilitation: how well the buildings we design facilitate the healing process, for patients, staff and visitors.  That’s why  we participate in the annual one-year warranty walk-through, an activity that usually only involves the contractor and owner but one that we find tremendously beneficial in helping us continuously improve our design approach and processes.  We’ve found that a year in a new facility gives hospital administration and staff – as well as patients and visitors – a chance to really get to know the place and identify the little things they might have done differently.

At Effingham, we found that, overall, everyone is quite happy with the new surgery, imaging and emergency departments.  Most often, we find that it’s little things – with easy fixes – that can maximize efficiencies.  A few quick examples from Effingham included the addition of a shelf for scrubbing supplies beside scrub sinks; signage to distinguish between automatic door push pads to distinguish between doors; a deeper, non-ADA compliant sink in the decontamination room; and an additional desk instead of storage in the triage room.