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facility include processing and preparation areas for before and after the
retrieval operation. These areas are equipped with storage and packing
materials, temperature-controlled units, and sorting that allows for direct
connection to local or air travel services.
The ORs are set up with equipment, lighting, and technologies common
to traditional hospitals. While these types of facilities are not licensed as
hospitals, they're designed to mirror the same best practices and codes of
a surgical suite, such as accommodating specialized equipment like freezers
and right-sized on-site generators for the safe completion of in-progress
procedures, as well as planned with additional storage and access for
oxygen tanks.
SUPPORTING STAFF
STA's headquarters combines medical operations with the business
and administrative functions that make organ donation possible, in
one place. While adding efficiencies between teams and creating a more
seamless workflow, the mix of more than 150 staff members across a variety
of teams, from accounting and call center staff to processing and
C-suite leadership, presented the challenge of supporting several job
functions and needs in a single space.
The solution was a variety of work settings, including dedicated desks;
pop-up collaboration spaces; and more casual, comfortable seating options
to support the mix of tasks and responsibilities of staff members throughout
their day. With views to the outdoors and balconies and terraces that
punctuate the space, occupants maintain a connection to nature, tapping
into the potential of biophilic design to support demanding workplaces
and promote overall wellness. Additional on-site amenities for staff include
a work café and fitness room.
Additionally, respite spaces throughout the facility, on-call rooms on
the garden level, break rooms with connection to the memorial garden,
and sleeping rooms help provide comfort to staff members, many of whom
work unconventional and long hours without the reliability of scheduling
and planned procedures. With the expectation that staff be ready at
all hours, additional security and ease of access are especially important.
For the STA facility, a horizontal skybridge between the parking garage
to the facility's second floor provides arriving doctors and nurses a quick
connection to the facility without disrupting the sensitivity of the publicfacing
ground floor.
Conference rooms and training spaces support ongoing professional and
team development programs. As a connection point for team collaboration
as well as interdepartmental learning, these spaces respond to modern
work demands and are outfitted with technologies and audio-visual equipment
for information sharing and presentations. The STA project team
introduced furnishings and materials to create a calm, serene setting, including
earth tone colors, natural wood details, and brightly colored fabrics
and patterns to add visual interest.
EMPATHY IN ACTION
Complex and layered in their functions, these highly technical spaces
combine efficient operations and dedicated workflows with spaces that
uniquely support the needs of staff, medical professionals, donors, and
their families.
As healthcare spaces challenge design and the built environment to create
more human-centric spaces, STA is an example of a proactively empathetic
space that not only honors the patient journey but also the fullness
SEP TEMBER 2021
41
Zephyr™
Apollo™ BLOCK ©2011 modularArts, Inc. U.S. Patent 8,375,665
BLOCK ©2012 modularArts, Inc.
U.S. Patent 8,375,665
Crush™ PANEL @2011modularArts, Inc.
Photo by Steve Hall, Hall +Merrick Photography. Designer: Eastlake Studio.
AuralScapes™
Crush™
Sound Absorption Wall Panels
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Healthcare Design - September 2021

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