Healthcare Design - August 2021 - 43

The Center
ADVERTISERS' INDEX
BLURRING BOUNDARIES
Architex ...............................................................C4
Armstrong Ceiling .................................................... 9
ASI ..................................................................... 14
BDNY ....................................................... 104, 105
Carolina ................................................................ 1
DeepStream Design ............................................... 18
Center for Health Design......................................... 46
EFA Expo & Conference ......................................... 38
Furniture Concepts ................................................. 19
HCD Expo & Conference ........................................C3
HD Expo & Conference ........................................ 120
HealthPoint ......................................................... 116
HX The Hotel Experience ........................................ 89
Inpro ............................................................. 25, 27
Interface Hospitality ............................................... 17
Interwoven ............................................................. 5
Kimball International ................................................. 5
KNU/La-Z-Boy ...................................................... 32
Kwalu .................................................................C2
LDI Interiors ........................................................... 59
Mayer Fabrics ...................................................... 34
Midmark ............................................................... 2
Moduform ............................................................ 41
modulararts .......................................................... 40
Momentum Group ................................................ 10
Paladin Healthcare ................................................ 42
RFID .................................................................. 125
Senior Lifestyle Design Match ................................... 18
Sherwood Windows .............................................. 37
SitOnIt Seating ...................................................... 13
Stance Healthcare ................................................... 7
Tarkett USA .......................................................... 33
The index to advertiser page numbers is published for
reader convenience. Every effort is made to list page
numbers correctly. The listing is not part of the advertising
contract and the publisher is not responsible for errors or
omissions.
Healthcare facilities can support community health
and wellness by becoming destinations for more than
medical services By Debra Levin
A
T THEIR MOST basic level,
healthcare buildings are
places people go to regain
and/or maintain their
health. Patients visit ambulatory
care facilities
for physician's visits or
medical tests, hospitals
for more serious interventions, and rehabilitation
or long-term care facilities for the road to
recovery. At this basic level, the relationship
is mostly transactional and the buildings that
house those transactions tend to be singular
unto themselves.
As designers, we often have the intention to
design and build healthcare facilities that offer
more than their functionalities; still, most projects
fail to emerge as vital community hubs. To
truly elevate our healthcare buildings and establish
them within our communities, it's time
to start thinking of them as " fourth places. "
Closely related to the concept of " third places, "
or spaces between home and work where we
may spend time connected with other individuals
(for example, in a library or coffee shop),
fourth places support gathering but also a sense
of inclusiveness where strangers from all backgrounds
and viewpoints can come together for
informal social interactions in public or semipublic
spaces.
As a visual person, I used to see the ideal
healthcare system as a hub-and-spoke model,
with the hospital being the hub and the spokes
being all of the ambulatory buildings and services
that emanated out of the hospital into the
community. Over the last few years, that image
in my mind has morphed to be more of an intricate
spider web that overlays a community,
with amplified relationships between buildings
through increased connections and services. As
the lines between healthcare, education, retail,
and hospitality blur more and more, the types
of buildings providing services that improve
public health expands. The web that weaves
them all together is considerably more complicated
but also significantly stronger because of
the many levels of connectivity.
This blurring is occurring because building
types might serve multiple functions with
the common purpose of improving and contributing
to community health. For example,
hospitals could become destinations for more
than medical reasons if public parks are incorporated
into their design. Gyms could be
connected to hospitals, not only as places to
exercise and socialize but for rehabilitation,
while hospital restaurants might provide a
gathering place for nutrition and education.
In this fourth-place approach to design, the
lines that previously differentiated these
types of settings begin to disappear thanks to
connection and common purpose.
We've already seen this occur in other sectors,
such as grocery stores that sell clothing
and housewares, farmers markets set up in
transit hubs, and airports with shops that rival
retail malls. This blurring of singular functionality
is happening at a quicker and quicker pace
in our communities. Though healthcare is traditionally
conservative and slow to change-
and the idea of hospitals serving community
needs in a variety of ways is not new-it's also
still not the norm. As we start to think about
designing the next generation of healthcare facilities
to serve our communities for at least the
next 50 years, it's time we work to ensure they
actually do. 
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center
for Health Design. She can be reached at DLEVIN@
HEALTHDESIGN.ORG .
AU GUST 2021
43
Healthcare Design - August 2021

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