Healthcare Design - March 2017 - 31

ED LACASSE

example, many soldiers stationed at Fort Hood
are involved in overseas operations that require
the use of large vehicles that they're constantly
jumping on and off of, leading to a prevalence of
chiropractic and joint injuries. The focus also
reflects the medical center's growing behavioral
health service line and the volume of babies delivered at the medical center, which averages
250-300 deliveries a month.
Services, or "portals of care," are categorized
as clinic-based or hospital-based. The clinicbased portals include primary care, orthopedics,
rehabilitation, surgery, and behavioral health.
Inpatient portals supported by the 122-bed hospital include intensive care, general medicine,
and surgery, with an ED and imaging department also housed there. This approach guided
the adjacencies created in the campus' three
clinic buildings and inpatient tower. For example, chiropractic, occupational therapy, and pain
management departments are housed together
on the first floor of one of the clinic buildings. "It
allows [patients] to get care from different service lines without having to traverse the entire
building," says Brent Willson, associate principal and senior vice president at HKS.
All of the women's services, including outpatient care, OB/GYN, labor and delivery, and
neonatal care, are located in the women's health
clinic that's on the hospital side of campus. The
idea behind the solution was that a woman
would use the clinic to access prenatal care, take
tours of delivery rooms, and visit with doctors.
"So when she comes in for delivery, she's already
familiar with the facility, the labor and delivery
unit, and she can come in the same door," Willson says. "It's focused on complete care of mothers and women, from prenatal care all the way
through delivery and postnatal care."
The arrangement also benefited the behavioral health unit, specifically for patients being
treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, or trouble reintegrating with society
after deployment. While space at the existing
hospital had been repurposed to support care
as awareness of mental health needs grew, the
design of the replacement hospital offered an
opportunity to consider what would define the
optimal care environment. The answer was locating all behavioral health services on the third
floor of the hospital and adjacent clinic building,
with room for a range of services, from individual and group therapy (for squads and families) to
inpatient treatment. Bridging the two areas to-

ABOV E : Covered
outdoor balconies
offer staff members an
opportunity for fresh
air while protecting
them from the Texas
sun. BE L OW: Clinic
waiting areas are
located adjacent to a
courtyard, providing
a visual link to
nature while bringing
daylighting inside.

gether allows cross-staffing between outpatient and inpatient care. There's
also access to a secured outdoor area with a basketball court that's dedicated to behavioral health patients. "Giving patients access to nature for fresh
air and sunshine is beneficial to the healing process," Schultz says.
A SENSE OF PLACE

Recognizing that a nearly 1 million-square-foot building could be intimidating to navigate, the team worked to create a design that's intuitive. "Especially the first-time visitor or that person new to Fort Hood, their access and orientation to the facility needed to be simple and clear," Willson
says. The clinic and hospital buildings are organized linearly, with a single
connecting concourse that runs the length of the medical center and is
anchored by parking garages on both ends. A two-story atrium with floorto-ceiling windows serves as a dividing point on the concourse; hospitalbased services are on the left side and the three outpatient clinics are on
the right side. There's also an information desk, cafeteria, outdoor dining
area, and pharmacy located on the ground floor off the atrium, creating a
centralized gathering spot and orientation point.

MARCH 2017

Healthcare Design - March 2017

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