Healthcare Design - May 2020 - 28

PERSPECTIVE

THINKING

BIG

ACROSS THE WORLD, health-

SOLUTIONS

WORKPLACE RESET
IN MARCH, as architecture firms across the country were beginning to antic-

ipate future work-from-home mandates to support social distancing efforts
to suppress the spread of COVID-19, HKS conducted a "stress test" of its IT
system by having all employees work remotely one Friday. Jeffrey Stouffer,
executive vice president and global director at HKS (Dallas), says there
were a few glitches, which its IT and practice technology groups addressed
Jeffrey Stouffer
over the weekend, and by the following week, offices began closing on a rolling basis until all of the firm's 1,500 employees in 23 offices were working
from home.
It's a reality that, by now, has affected firms across the country, resulting
in new work routines, skill sets, project timelines-and even social time
with co-workers. "It's been a big adjustment for everyone," says Stephen
Parker, architect and planner at SmithGroup (Washington, D.C.), adding
Stephen Parker
that the new "normal" work schedule has been one of the biggest changes.
During his first week working remotely, Parker says workdays averaged 10plus hours, partially in response to clients who are working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis and available only in the evenings for phone
or video conferences. "We've been trying to be conscientious of the challenges they're under and to be accommodating," he says.
Additionally, there's been shifts in what tools architects and designers
are utilizing on projects these days. For example, Parker says he's had to
Solvei Neiger
shift some user group meetings for a project to a virtual format to gather
input, while existing design programs that allow architects to sketch in real time and share concepts with co-workers or clients during virtual sessions are becoming the norm. "The skill sets
that were used in limited circumstances before are experiencing a greater use now," he says.
Before the COVID-19 crisis, Solvei Neiger, partner at ZGF Architects (Portland, Ore.), believed
there was no substitute for in-person, face-to-face collaboration. Now she expects meetings and
project presentations will continue being conducted virtually more often. "The past month has
been a revelation," she says. "The ability to convene online with only a few days' or hours' notice
allows us to be nimbler-to carve out time for important conversations and presentations at more
natural inflection points-rather than scheduling in-person meetings weeks in advance without
the benefit of knowing what might arise in the meantime."
While much is still uncertain about this pandemic-and its effects on the industry at large-
Stouffer anticipates "dramatic effects" to the workplace, especially if coronavirus outbreaks become a recurring factor. One reality, he says, may be firms setting up a rolling schedule with employees alternating which weeks they work from home and which they
come into the office to limit the number of employees in the same space at
MORE
any one time.
ONLINE:
For now, firms are already addressing shifting workplace realities by
Visit HCDmagazine.
com/covid-19 for
stressing the importance of staying connected through daily video conenhanced versions of
ferences, phone calls, and the increasingly popular Zoom happy hour. "In
these articles as well
some cases, I think it's bringing us closer," Stouffer says.
as daily COVID-19
Parker says his firm, too, is making efforts to touch base regularly. "Our
updates on how
industry members
virtual happy hours have started to include 'skills sessions' where our colare contributing to
leagues share how to better utilize all of the digital tools at our disposal,"
built environment
Parker adds. "In turn, we all benefit from the experiences of more senior
solutions.
staff sharing lessons learned on our current projects."-AD

MAY 2020

care is facing its greatest
challenge in over a century.
Dr. Manuel Hernandez
As COVID-19 tightens its
grip on humanity, hospitals and healthcare providers
are racing to respond.
As a practicing emergency physician and designer,
I am watching this pandemic play out with fascination and frustration. As a doctor, I see our healthcare
providers turn to their standard playbooks focused on
surge capacity, mass casualty incidents, and natural
disasters. As a designer, I see design professionals
turning to discussions around how we can adapt
space in a time of crisis.
Both are good conversations to be having, but
I am forced to wonder if we're thinking creatively
enough at a time when we're being asked to respond
to something unprecedented in our lifetimes. Or,
put differently, how might we think more holistically,
more boldly, and more decisively about the things
we can do today to design an effective response to
COVID-19?
The very first thing we need to recognize in this
pandemic is that now, more than ever, we need every
healthcare provider operating at the top of their
license, or at the top of their skill set for unlicensed
providers. Before we even consider adding more beds
or space, we have to ensure we have deployed our
staff in a way that enables us to safely care for what
could easily become a doubling or more of our daily
patient volumes.
We also have to ask ourselves if the conditions in
our communities require that we evolve our thoughts
on appropriate environments of care. Do we redeploy
nurses and technical staff working in clinics and ambulatory setting into acute environments? Or, alternatively, do we turn primary care clinics into COVID-19
testing stations and even overnight care centers?
The path forward in responding to COVID-19 is not
going to be an easy one, and it's not looking like it's
going to a quick one. We are certainly not going to
get every decision right.
That said, we must look beyond traditional solutions around space and using resources-both human
and otherwise-the way we always do. We must
take a step back, resist the temptation to do what we
have always done, and challenge ourselves to think
about how we leverage our expertise as healthcare
providers and designers to enable our workforce,
our technologies, and our environments to work
more collaboratively to respond to a test never faced
before.-Dr. Manuel Hernandez, principal, strategic
innovation/co-practice leader, healthcare team,
Kahler Slater 

Healthcare Design - May 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - May 2020