Healthcare Design - May 2021 - 32

REGIONAL TOUCHES

MAY 2021

A B OV E : To create a
welcoming setting for
patients and families,
the clinic design focuses
on integrating natural
light and windows that
allow views of the natural
spaces and landscaping
outside. B E L OW: In addition to offering medical,
behavioral, and dental
care services, the clinic
incorporates spaces for
educational programs and
group meetings, including
a first-floor community
room with an adjacent
outdoor courtyard.

IWAN B AAN

such as the City of McKinney, Baylor Scott & White Health, and Communities Foundation of Texas, to build support through financial and in-kind
donations.
Meanwhile, Perry and Tippit began searching for a site for the clinic.
" Location was important in terms of who we serve, " Perry says. Specifically, the bank wanted the clinic to be located in east McKinney and be
easily accessible because the region lacks robust public transit. A vacant
site that was located between a major highway and downtown McKinney
fit those needs. In 2016, the North Texas Family Health Foundation was
formed as the nonprofit entity to own the site and the 25,000-square-foot
clinic building that would be built there.
In line with the grassroots nature of the project, Community Health
Care Center (Wichita Falls, Texas), a mission-oriented organization that
operates 14 clinics in North Central Texas, agreed to serve as the operator,
bringing its experience in the patient-centered medical home model to
the project (the provider leases the building from the foundation).
On the design side, Perry reached out to Boston-based Model of Architecture Serving Society (MASS) Design Group, which she had on her radar
after reading about the firm's healthcare work in Haiti. Although MASS
has contributed to more than a dozen medical facilities and labs across the
globe, the McKinney project would be its first in the U.S. " We've spent the
last decade working with government ministries of health and nonprofit
organizations, trying to expand access to high-quality care by leveraging
the built environment and design to do that, " says David Saladik, senior
principal and design director at MASS (Kigali, Rwanda). " This felt like a
really natural transition from our global work to the U.S. "
Initially enlisted to conduct an immersion process, the firm's role
evolved to serve as design architect for the community clinic, while
SmithGroup (Dallas) assisted on the architecture and oversaw interior
design. As part of its year-long research, MASS talked to patients as well
as providers and community groups to begin outlining what needs the
clinic could serve. Additionally, the firm visited Community Health Care
Center's facilities in Wichita to meet with staff and understand their operations, what was working, and what they hoped to improve in the new
clinic, such as implementing a pod model to support care providers working in a team-based setting. " We learned a lot about their ambitions for
what they wanted the space to look and feel like, " Saladik says.

By 2018, the project team was ready to move
into design. The primary goal was to " nestle
into " the neighborhood as much as possible and
create a design that felt more like a home than a
clinic, Saladik says. To break down the scale of
the facility, the project team took architectural
cues from the area, including Texan Dogtrotstyle houses, which feature multiple buildings
connected by a common breezeway and roof.
The result is a two-story structure divided into
two buildings, with clinical services in one and
community and staff services in the other.
The new Family Health Center on Virginia,
named after its location on Virginia Street,
would offer primary care, family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, behavioral health, and
dental services. In addition to improving access
to care, Perry says the partners also wanted to
incorporate wraparound services that would
help address other key social determinants of
health such as stable housing and food resources. Perry says the early research with MASS
helped the project team understand what kind
of synergies could exist, such as the clinic serving as a provider for Head Start.
Throughout the interiors, the project team
sought to transform the healthcare experience
by rethinking waiting areas as " different experiences of a home, " Saladik says, such as one
centered on dining, one for working, and one
with a playscape for younger patients and family members. Furnishings and large windows
help support the homelike vibe and support the
goal to create a welcoming and dignified experience, Saladik says. " We didn't want you to walk
into a stuffy, small waiting room. We wanted you
to walk into something that felt expansive, comfortable, and naturally daylit. "
To support the clinic's team-based care model,

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