Healthcare Design - August 2021 - 30

PRIORITIZING
CLINICAL STAFF
DAVID MITCHELL
went up when people were working from home. " There were a lot of leaders
who thought offering a hybrid option would work really well, " Hagerty
says. " At the end of the day, what we realized was people just want a little
bit more choice and flexibility in how they do their work. And quite frankly,
what we experienced just by ripping off the Band-Aid and having all these
folks going remote is that we can offer some options to our employees who
can do their work in a hybrid manner, " Hagerty says.
Similar realizations are happening across the healthcare landscape, as
organizations partner with design firms in their pursuit of new workplace
strategies, including remote and hybrid options, that will evolve the sector's
work culture along with the physical environments designed to support
them. It's an important step-especially after a year where everyone
was in a reactionary mode, says Brooke Behnfeldt, principal and senior interior
designer at GBBN (Cincinnati). " Two, three months into [the pandemic]
we didn't have the hindsight yet, " she says. " But now, this far into
it, we have a whole different appreciation. We have an opportunity to look
at the things that worked well and to design them with intentionality into
the space. "
SHIFTING GEARS
When it comes to discussing the healthcare workplace, there are two main
areas of focus: clinical, or areas located within clinics, diagnostic areas, and
inpatient units where medical staff spend a good amount of time; and administrative
or support space for functions ranging from finance and fundraising
to supply chain, procurement, marketing, and public relations. For now,
most of the discussions and changes related to evolving workplace strategies
apply to nonclinical employees. In recent years, it was common to see
healthcare organizations move nonclinical staffers into corporate headquarter-type
spaces or other more affordable buildings off main campuses, freeing
up on-campus square footage for patient-facing services and reducing
real estate costs, Behnfeldt says. The pandemic accelerated that approach,
she adds, saying that now providers are seeking to not only move more
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AU GUST 2021
HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Memorial Sloan-Kettering
(MSK) Cancer Center in
New York renovated one
of its offices to add large
collaboration spaces that
support different meeting
types and team activities,
outfitting them with
whiteboard surfaces and
movable partitions and
furnishings.
departments off campus but pursue a similar path
as CHOP in exploring hybrid and remote work
arrangements.
One example is Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center (MSK) in New York City, which
began re-evaluating its workplace approach
soon after much of its nonclinical support
employees transitioned into remote employment
last year due to the pandemic. " Our board
and leadership posed the question to us, 'Does
it make sense to have everyone come back
100 percent and occupy the space that they occupied
pre-COVID?' " says Suzen Heeley, executive
director, design and construction at MSK.
While the last year
further emphasized the
vital role of first responders,
it also illustrated the
fact that for many clinical
staff, including nurses
and doctors, remote work
isn't an option. Still, there
are some changes within
clinical workplace environments
that are gaining
momentum. For starters,
Brooke Behnfeldt,
principal and senior interior
designer at GBBN,
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Healthcare Design - August 2021

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