Healthcare Design - March 2020 - 23

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sion of each program housed there is already
carved out. "It seems all of these facilities become such local institutions; 'if you build it, they
will come' really does occur," Frazier says. On
top of expansion plans in place, the 120-squarefoot room module allows academic/office space
to be repurposed for clinical space over time.
Care environments have also evolved to answer the needs of today's cancer patients and
treatment protocols. "Patients in the ambulatory environment are much more acute than
they've ever been," Heeley says. For example, the
Westchester facility has recently documented
more slips and falls than usual, inspiring a rethinking of floor surfaces to better support individuals who are frail by ensuring color, contrast,
and tonality aren't visually contributing to the
problem. The organization is also working to ensure its waiting spaces can accommodate several
wheelchairs at once, while seat heights throughout MSK are being addressed via a new organizational requirement that chairs have arms to
assist patients as they sit and stand.
Also, recently at the Westchester site, shell
space was completed to support an emerging
"tele-triage" program, allowing patients who
have concerns in off-hours to call into a clinician who can direct them to an appropriate next
step for care. That location added an urgent care
center, too. "Cancer patients have such a challenging medical history. Sometimes for them to
go to a local emergency department might be a
larger and longer process than they might want
to go through. They can now go to the urgent
care center that has clinicians there 24 hours
a day to respond to their needs," Frazier says.
Telehealth is being introduced to the ambulatory sites, as well. "We're thinking about what
that experience is for patients in telemedicine: If
they're calling in, who are they looking at, what is
the lighting level like, how does that potentially
make it feel?" Heeley says.
Personalized medicine-treating a person's
genetic makeup rather than simply the disease-
is taking a front seat in cancer treatment at MSK,
too, calling for new built environment solutions.
"For example, clinical trial spaces are being included in some of these ambulatory care facilities that we didn't have before. We're also having
to beef up our clinical IT component to be able
to track this information. We're working to cull
all of this data, a huge amount of data collection
that we do ... we had to build a data center to support that," Heeley says.

SPECIAL REPORT
CANCER CENTERS

TOP: MSK's branded aesthetic is defined by timeless interiors that boast clean lines and a neutral color palette accented by pops of color in the art pieces and furniture, as seen at MSK Nassau. AB O V E : A feature wall spans a

public area at MSK Nassau, repeating the detail that originated in Frazier and Heeley's first project together, MSK
Westchester. The traditional long reception desk has now been replaced with what's termed "beehives," where staff
can converse more casually with patients and caregivers and easily move from behind the desk.

MARCH 2020

Healthcare Design - March 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - March 2020