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or color a picture while chatting about their day.
This transforms the center of the unit, typically
dedicated to staff, into an additional space where
young patients can receive care.
3. Sheppard Pratt Hospital at Elkridge.
During design discussions for the new 85bed Sheppard Pratt Hospital at Elkridge in
Elkridge, Md., expected to open in summer
2021, the leadership design team led by CEO
Dr. Harsh Trivedi expressed concern that a
traditional team station would create a physical barrier between clinicians and patients and
undermine the organization's vision and model
of care to closely engage with patients on a regular basis. Providing the care team with mobile
technology in conjunction with that model of
care, leadership chose to eliminate the traditional team station in its entirety and dedicate
the center of the unit to patient and staff collaboration. Clinicians can still utilize a private
charting room located at the interface between
patient activity rooms and a staff support zone
for sensitive documentation or phone calls.
However, most of their day will be spent on the

unit, directly providing care to patients. Additionally, upon entering
the unit, patients will not be confronted with a traditional team station,
which is often viewed as a symbol of "other" due to the physical delineation and separation, but will encounter an open space full of natural
daylight. The decision to eliminate the team station in its entirety is a
paradigm shift that puts the patient at the center of the care unit, both
literally and figuratively.
SUPPORTING MODERN CARE ENVIRONMENTS

Whether in a renovation or new build, the design of the team station
plays a critical role in the overall message the care environment sends to
patients receiving care. As discussions evolve from enclosed versus open
team stations to include hybrid solutions or approaches where the team
station is eliminated in its entirety, this creates an opportunity to align
the ideals and vision of individual health systems with the environment
in which they deliver care. In-depth discussions with the care team that
has firsthand experience with patients, field observation to record hidden challenges that current designs present, and the use of 3-D virtual
technology to refine a solution before it's constructed can aid in finding
the proper design for each unique environment. 
Stephanie Vito, AIA, is vice president, architecture, at CannonDesign (Buffalo,
N.Y.). She can be reached at S V I T O @ C A N N O N D E S I G N . C O M .

J U N E /J U LY 2 0 2 0

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Healthcare Design - June/July 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - June/July 2020