The Hospital of the Future isn’t Just About Technology
Posted: January 20th, 2012 in Addressing Consumer Needs, Innovation
By Megan Portanova
“The Tower”, Rush University Medical Center’s new hospital, opened last week. Driving down I-290 in Chicago you can’t help but notice the building. It doesn’t look anything like the other buildings in that area, and definitely not like any of the other hospitals in the Chicago-area. Its curved, white façade looks more like the corporate headquarters some tech company might dream up. Rush’s website talks about all of the new important technological advancements in the hospital: from the lobby that can quickly convert to usable space if there is a disaster in the Chicago area to the interventional platform. However, one of the most interesting parts of this new building for me is the use of qualitative research and innovative architecture to solve some of the problems of a hospital.
The design for the building emerged from conversations the architect had with doctors and nurses in order to uncover how best to situate the building to improve the work that goes on within it. This is such a fundamental step in any successful innovation – and one of K&A’s Innovation Best Practices. You need to understand the needs of the end-user in order to create a solution that truly solves a problem. One of the outputs of these conversations is the most striking visual aspect of the building: the curved bed tower. The tower was designed to provide a central nurses’ station on each floor that allows easy access to patients. Talking to doctors and nurses also influenced the windowed corridors by surgery and the green roof, in order to provide some relief from the pressures of the job.
Hopefully, by taking into account the needs of the end-users in the space, “The Tower” will help Rush provide better healthcare.