Healthcare Design - November 2015 - 60

Supporting services
Another evolution in cancer center design is a
focus on providing more patient support and
complementary care services alongside clinical
offerings. Faulhaber says that during planning
for Cleveland Clinic's new building, space was
purposely designated for such amenities as a wig

boutique with fitting rooms and private viewing areas, a prosthetic room staffed by a therapist, and
a shared art therapy and yoga room with direct
access to an outdoor courtyard. These services
are located on the first floor along with the lab and
retail pharmacy so that patients will see them and
know to use them during their visits. "One of the
things that we found when we visited other cancer
centers is that if you have the services removed
from the main patient flow, [patients] don't go out
of their way to find them," Faulhaber says.
Facilities are also designing better spaces for
information and patient navigation services to
support patients and families during the treatment
process. Fritz says one of the goals during Banner
Health's renovation project was to consolidate its
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JAMES W. JENSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Each of the four pods is divided by half walls with
semitransparent glass tops and includes four to
five chairs and a decentralized nurses' station,
allowing for quick contact between nursing staff
and patients. "Our thought process has changed,"
she says. "We still want patients to interact as they
want to, but really, for the patient experience, they
need to be in a more private area and they need to
have better support space for caregivers or family
members who are coming in with them."
In some cases, facilities are updating these settings based on customer feedback. For example,
ProHealth switched its infusion model from allprivate to a mix of private and grouped bays when
patients expressed a desire for both at its new
facility. "They wanted privacy, but they also wanted
the ability to have a conversation with another
patient or create their own support network with
another patient," Kleba says. Furthermore, patients
are given seating choices, including a daybed or
recliner in the open bay areas and a bed or recliner
in the private rooms.
Feedback from patients at Cleveland Clinic took
that organization down a different path, with the
urban facility moving from its current open-room
pod structure to 98 private and semiprivate chemotherapy infusion rooms in its new building. Faulhaber says the major difference between the two
options is that the private rooms will have a shared
bathroom between two suites while the semiprivate
rooms will access restrooms in the hallway.

Left: A botanical pattern on the
etched glass walls inside the
infusion pods at North Colorado
Medical Center Cancer Institute
adds a layer of privacy while
still allowing staff visibility. The
nature-inspired setting also
features wood accents in the
flooring, casework, and ceiling
features. Below, left: During its
renovation and expansion, North
Colorado Medical Center added
another radiation treatment
vault with a TrueBeam linear
accelerator. Back-lit nature
images on the ceiling, colorchanging lights, and soothing
music are used within the room
to ease patient anxiety and
provide a focal point during
treatments.
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