Design guidance from healthcare professionals, patient families, and solid private financial support helped bring to life the rehab-rich features at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). The influence and suggestions provided by those outside and inside healthcare will help position the hospital’s new Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric care as “the ideal patient experience” when it opens July 27, according to a media release from CHOP.
Standing 12 stories tall, the center features a 2-story climbing wall; sub-areas for different age and developmental levels; an outdoor dining terrace adjacent to a 2.6-acre landscaped plaza with a Children’s Discovery Garden; and a multitude of interactive play installations, geared to a range of ages, in the waiting areas of each clinical department.
A rehab kitchen for patients to practice activities of daily living has also been built into the facility, which includes a mock scanner room designed to allow children to practice lying motionless during a noisy MRI session, according to a media release from CHOP.
Shortening wait times was also a consideration of the facility’s planners. Each floor is outfitted with electronic check-in and preregistration areas projected to streamline the registration process and reduce the typical wait time families sometimes experience when a child enters a healthcare facility.
Madeline Bell, CHOP’s president and chief executive officer, notes in the CHOP media release that many families, doctors, and nurses participated in the planning of the building. “We are confident that we have achieved our goal of providing an ideal patient experience by utilizing design features that anticipate and meet the needs of our patients and their families,” Bell states.
Making the medical experience fun for children while efficient and convenient for families was at the center of planning for the new facility, according to the CHOP media release. Spacious waiting rooms for families are design to be provided with natural light and dotted with “Wait, Play, Learn” areas to provide patients and their siblings a venue for educational toys and games. A 14,000 square-foot roof garden will afford space for recreation as well as rehabilitation sessions, while a 2.6-acre landscaped outdoor plaza is intended to offer a safe open area for play, entertainment, and emotional recharging.
[Source: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia]
