The newly refreshed room on the third floor of the University Hospital campus
A public pathway stair at the Memorial Medical Center campus
A full working mock-up of a new patient room on both campuses
Worcester, MA – UMass Memorial Medical Center began construction recently at both its University Hospital and Memorial Hospital campuses, on a 250,000sf, five-year phased redesign project. Currently known as the Campus Refresh, the project designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative consists of new interior standards and upgrades for both campuses. The scope includes finish upgrades to medical/surgical patient rooms, staff support spaces, and public spaces on patient floors including full renovations to provide for new rooms compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The plan for this $200 million refresh project included the construction of a working mock-up new patient rooms on both campuses, which opened to patients and staff in the beginning of February. The newly refreshed room on the third floor of the University Hospital campus reflects the changes that UMass will bring to the medical center’s hospitals in the coming years. More than 600 staff and patient surveys were completed to assess design features and finishes in the mock-ups. Participants from a multitude of disciplines responded to questions regarding overall aesthetics and function of the rooms.
One of the design features is a new glass panel in the patient room door to allow for staff visibility of the patient with the door closed. “Currently, the doors are kept open,” says Melissa Anthony, a SLAM designer on the project. “If the patient room doors are able to be closed, the environment should improve due to decreased noise disturbance and greater patient satisfaction in addition to a higher sense of privacy.” Another important feature is the inclusion of full-coverage patient ceiling lifts in each room for every bed, a safety feature that benefits both the patient and the caregivers. Staff and patient feedback, in addition to multiple Lean 3P events, have positively impacted the design decisions for the refreshed patient room.
In addition to the implementation of EPIC, a digitalized system used for patient charting and electronic medical records, the traditional nurse station is being redesigned as a collaborative team station in order to deliver interdisciplinary team-based care. “UMass Memorial Medical Center is an academic institution; the environment should foster teaching and learning,” says Anthony. Modular team stations will provide a variety of shared touchdown, dedicated workstations and team break-out space with the ability to adapt to changing workflow in the years to come. New educational seminar rooms supporting the current philosophy for academic instruction will be included throughout the facility.
Staff and patient involvement is an important and continuous aspect of the project’s success. The incorporation of Lean Design strategies aligning with the hospitals’ new process of collaboration and goals of enhancing teaching and learning throughout, empower the success of the delivery of care at UMass Memorial Medical Center.
The hospital has set forth a project charter to standardize, declutter, and organize spaces, allowing for improved wayfinding and efficiency for patients, visitors, and staff. “As part of the nursing unit updates, it is great to see the facility embrace a more patient-centered environment that includes a move to private patient rooms at the Memorial Hospital campus. Coupled with the goal of making the patient floors more consistent, the benefit will be improving patient satisfaction and staff work flow. The project fits the hospital’s mandate of being the best place to give care and the best place to get care,” says David Neal, SLAM principal-in-charge. Furthermore, the public pathway at the Memorial campus is undergoing renovations to enhance the circulation of patients, family, and visitors that are navigating throughout the hospital.
