Healthcare Design - March 2023 - 20

NIC LEHOUX ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHY
MetroHealth embraced that role, too, and began bonding with other
community groups in its planning. Efforts included creating a new rapidtransit
bus line that expanded service and frequency to the main campus
and other health centers; launching, in partnership with the Cleveland
school district, a science and health-centered high school located inside
the hospital; and building an affordable-housing apartment complex onsite
for qualifying members of the community. In fact, the project became
the catalyst for extensive organizational change, Jones says, particularly
in MetroHealth's shift from a hospital to health-and-wellness mindset. " It
was truly transformational in every sense of the word, " he says.
That mindset informed the vision for the hospital itself, as well. The existing
facility was an amalgamation of spaces added on over the years as
volumes and care needs dictated, a fact that ultimately eroded the overall
experience. And while those drivers still had to inspire the replacement-
particularly supporting key service lines like a Level 1 trauma center
and burn unit-the project also brought the opportunity to rethink how
care is delivered, Jones says. " We need to make sure we can respect our
patients and families while we're delivering care and provide adequate
space for other supporting efforts that they need. "
Additionally, leadership eyed flexibility and adaptability as key, viewing
the project as an opportunity to ensure the new hospital has the longest
lifespan possible and that decisions made at the onset weren't outdated
upon completion.
This lengthy planning process also meant that when it was time to choose
a project team, potential partners were handed a fairly complete package to
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Dichroic glass partitions
in the surgery waiting
area organize seating
clusters and allow light to
filter throughout the space
while maintaining a sense
of privacy.
review, with both program and cost models. As a
public institution, MetroHealth had to conduct
a competitive bid process but chose to go further
than the minimum required due to the largescale,
high-profile nature of the project, Jones
says. It used multiple interview phases to determine
which firms best rose to the challenge.
There was an added curveball, too: the desire to
achieve ultimate flexibility and adaptability had
led Jones to the concept of " process neutral " -
essentially, the goal being to achieve spaces that
are so universal that the hospital could use them
for almost anything and shift space assignments
based on volume and care needs as frequently as
desired. What that meant for planning and design,
though, is that user group meetings weren't
necessary to the traditional extent. Instead,
MetroHealth would rely on its users for tactical,
specific information and the expertise of its
architects to determine space requirements to
achieve the adaptability desired.
Mark Bultman, healthcare market sector leader
at HGA (Milwaukee), says his team responded
to the challenge by bringing an evidence-based
approach to the interview process, using the
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Healthcare Design - March 2023

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