Healthcare Design - January/February 2024 - 43

HKS INC. (DEE DEE BONDS); STEPHEN ZANE WWW.STEPHENZANE.COM (RYAN DANIELS);
CAPTURES BY CHRISSY MALOTT (JULIE DUMSER); ATRIUM HEALTH (SARAH FRANCIS)
ACH YEAR, A judging panel of healthcare architects, interior
designers, and facility executives meets with exhibitors
at the annual Healthcare Design Conference + Expo
to evaluate product entries in the Nightingale Awards,
which recognize product design and innovation that support
healing and productivity. These discussions provide
an opportunity for judges to examine the products, hear
about specific features, and ask questions of the manufacturers as they
consider how the entries meet the awards program criteria. From these
eff orts, judges determine Gold and Silver winners in specifi c product categories,
from architectural products to flooring and furniture, as well as
recognize those for sustainability and innovation advancements. The 2023
winners are celebrated in a special section starting on page 17 of this issue.
The process also off ers an opportunity for judges to see how manufacturers
and suppliers are meeting the big-picture needs of healthcare organizations.
To understand what was learned, Healthcare Design invited
judges to a roundtable discussion to hear what stood out to them during
the awards judging at the HCD Conference as well as what they'd like
manufacturers to improve and focus on next. In December 2023, Editorin-Chief
Anne DiNardo moderated a discussion via Zoom with Dee Dee
Bonds, vice president and senior interior designer-health at HKS Inc.
(Orlando); Ryan Daniels, vice president, Florida healthcare practice
leader at CPL (Tampa, Fla.); Julie Dumser, RN, senior manager, health
consulting, at EY (Indianapolis); and Sarah Francis, RN, director-planning,
design, and construction, at Atrium Health (Charlotte, N.C.). Here
are some of the topics that were top of mind.
ADVANCEMENTS IN BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DESIGN
Last year, during discussion of the 2022 Nightingale Awards, judges expressed
a desire for more products serving the behavioral health population-a
topic, they noted, that was at the forefront for designers as they
sought to deliver less institutional environments for patients.
A year later, judges of the 2023 Nightingale program say they recognized
visible progress in this area with products designed to meet the
needs of this patient population as well as moving the needle in aesthetics
and functionality. " We saw a lot of attention to behavioral health solutions
and furniture that didn't feel so institutional at fi rst glance, " Atrium
Health's Francis says.
Among those products getting their attention were behavioral health
solutions that meet specifi c safety needs or better support patients in the
care environment. For example, taking home a Gold Award in the Technology-Integrated
Solutions category, Safehinge Primera's Full-Door Ligature
Alarm off ers a new approach to door safety with a wireless suicide
detection system built into the door that alerts clinical staff if a vertical
load of more than 11 pounds is applied anywhere on the door.
Roundtable participants also noted more manufacturers filling a void
for products that serve patients with sensory needs, including Pineapple's
Boden Donut Rocker, which received a Gold Award in the Seating category
and an Innovation Award. The furniture is designed specifi cally to provide
support for patients with sensory processing needs and those who find
comfort with self-stimulatory behavior, such as rocking back and forth to
help fi nd focus and calm.
They also noticed improvements in the aesthetics of products for behavioral
health environments that align with efforts within the industry
to destigmatize and deinstitutionalize behavioral health settings. For example,
Stance Healthcare's Lotus Case Goods, which earned both a Gold
Dee Dee Bonds
Award in the Furniture Collections category as
well as an Innovation Award, comes in a woodgrain
design with four fi nish options to enhance
the ambience of any space. Within the flooring
category, EY's Dumser says several manufacturers
highlighted soothing, neutral color palettes
for their products to contribute to calming interiors
for patients and staff .
The panelists noted these improved features
Ryan Daniels
Julie Dumser
not only make a space feel less institutional but
also provide greater flexibility to healthcare
facilities on how to use their spaces. " The pandemic
taught us that we need to be a lot more
adaptable and universal in our rooms, " HKS'
Bonds says. For example, a facility facing a
shortage of beds may need to put nonacute patients
in a behavioral health room. " By paying
attention to the aesthetics, someone in a behavioral
health room that doesn't really need to be
there won't feel so out of place, " Dumser says.
Alternately, she says a patient may present for
one medical need and then develop conditions
that require a more secure setting. But if a room
has already been designed with such features,
such as lockable cabinets and antiligature or
weighted furniture, the patient could continue
to receive care in that same room instead of being
transferred to another area.
Sarah Francis
ADAPTIVE DESIGN FEATURES
In fact, products that enable healthcare environments
to be more adaptable and universal were
a big theme in their year's entries, according to
roundtable participants. Brewer Company's
Versa Exam Table, named Best of Competition,
was lauded for its modifi cations to the standard
exam table, which includes a solid base and interchangeable
adult and pediatric top confi gurations.
" You buy one product, and it can serve all
of those patients, from pediatrics to geriatrics, "
Bonds says. (For more on the Best of Competition
winner, read the Q+A starting on page 20.)
While adapting to changing patient populations,
the table also off ers fl exibility to meet the
needs of different medical specialties as well as
healthcare settings. For example, Bonds says, a
medical offi ce building might be used by a pediatric
group three days a week and then an adult
doctor's group the other two days. By using a
product like the Versa Exam Table, which can be
changed over in less than 10 minutes, the building
owner, whether a hospital system or an outside
vendor that leases the building, would be
able to outfi t an offi ce practice without having to
worry who's coming in.
Elements of universality were seen in other
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 202 4
43
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