Healthcare Design Archives

A recent project shows the value of designing to maximize daylighting in a space.

Southern Maine Health Care, in partnership with Maine Behavioral Healthcare, engaged Margulies Perruzzi and Array Architects to renovate a 24,000 SF unit, creating 40 new beds across two floors, and to design a five-bed Emergency Department Acute Psychiatric (EDAP) unit. This project triples the number of short stay behavioral healthcare beds available in York County, Maine.

The design team focused on incorporating as much access to daylight and nature as possible to leverage its clinical benefits. The team collaborated to situate activity rooms and common areas along the exterior walls of the building to bring in natural light and views of the Maine landscape for both patient and staff areas. Windows were maintained at patient areas while safety glass and borrowed light concepts were used to bring daylight deeper into the building. Art highlighting nature is incorporated at various seating areas throughout the unit to bring nature inside the building.

“The design team did a great job of listening to how we care for our patients and how we would be using the space. The new units will allow us to deliver a higher level of care to behavioral health patients,” said Diane Mankus, RN, senior director of behavioral health services at Southern Maine Health Care.

Read the full article featured in Building Operating Management.

BOSTON – July 20, 2021 – Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, has taken an active role working with health care clients to meet the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic and recently worked with Lahey Hospital & Medical Center (LHMC) in Burlington, Mass., to create a 3,100 SF COVID-19 testing lab.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and providers across the Commonwealth worked in numerous capacities to respond to COVID-19, caring for thousands of patients, re-configuring care settings, and endlessly innovating to meet the rapidly changing demands of this pandemic. Throughout this time, hospitals needed to find new ways to meet the growing demands for COVID-19 testing and analysis and support the achievement of the Commonwealth’s goals to grow testing capacity in the state, which was critical to ensuring robust diagnostic testing and surveillance of the spread of the disease.

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, a world-renowned tertiary medical center known for its innovative technology, pioneering medical treatment and leading-edge research, committed to more than doubling its existing COVID-19 testing capacity to meet the demand. The renovation of existing lab space created a new expanded COVID-19 testing lab with rapid throughput testing capabilities of up to 11,100 tests per day that would allow specimens to be resulted in 24 hours or less.

“To make a project like this happen requires an enormous amount of collaboration and alignment to ensure the entire team is working together to meet the project goals,” said Bob Humenn, AIA, director of healthcare strategy at Margulies Perruzzi. “The project team worked closely with LHMC to be sure the lab design would meet their current testing needs as well as future testing requirements.”

Margulies Perruzzi and Columbia Construction worked with LHMC to create a COVID-19 testing lab designed to accommodate new and larger equipment. The design/construction team was challenged to complete the COVID-19 testing lab as quickly as possible to meet the immediate needs for COVID-19 testing during the pandemic. Multiple sites on- and off-campus were explored, and it was determined that creating the COVID-19 testing lab within the main campus laboratory would have the greatest capital and operational cost efficiency. This approach could also be built in the shortest time because the mechanical infrastructure was already in place. The challenge with this option was restrictions on planning based on available space in the existing lab. Creating sufficient contiguous space needed for the Thermofisher testing equipment involved multiple moves of existing lab services and required renovation within an existing functioning laboratory. There were several strategies to accelerate the process, including team working sessions for material approvals and finishes flexibility to work with materials more readily available. Utilizing quick ship options for materials with unavoidably long lead times and using movable lab furniture to provide more flexibility for delivery, assembling and installation.

“LHMC moved quickly during the pandemic to meet the urgent demand for testing services. It was important that the lab could process a lot of tests quickly, but the space needed to be efficient and functional also. The design and construction teams helped us achieve our goals by taking a more proactive role to address issues immediately as they arose to ensure the new lab could open quickly for the benefit of our patients, colleagues and physicians,” said Michael Slejzer, director of planning, design and construction at LHMC.

Project team members include:

Architect/Laboratory Planning: Margulies Perruzzi
Construction Manager: Columbia Construction
Owner’s Project Manager: Lehrer Cummings
MEP/FP: BR+A
Commissioning: CMTA

About Margulies Perruzzi

As one of New England’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Health, Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor. More information may be found at https://mparchitectsboston.com.

Expanded access for behavioral health services to address shortages in treatment options

Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, announced today that it has completed the expansion and repositioning of two behavioral healthcare units at the Sanford Medical Center (formerly the Goodall Hospital) for Southern Maine Health Care. The grand opening took place on October 20^th. Please click here to view a video courtesy of SMHC about the new behavioral healthcare units.

“Behavioral health design requires a deep level of both experience and empathy. Margulies Perruzzi worked closely with our staff – both clinical and facilities – to ensure we were able to stay within our budget and yet deliver a high-quality space for our patients,” said Nathan Howell, president of Southern Maine Health Care.

Partnering with Array Architects, a leader in healthcare planning and design, Margulies Perruzzi focused on incorporating as much access to daylight and nature as possible to leverage its clinical benefits. The team collaborated to situate activity rooms and common areas along the exterior walls of the building to bring in natural light and views of the Maine landscape for both patient and staff areas. Windows were maintained at patient areas while safety glass and borrowed light concepts were used to bring daylight deeper into the building. Art highlighting nature is incorporated at various seating areas throughout the unit to bring nature inside the building.

The new inpatient unit is secured with access through an interlocking sally port and features 20 double occupancy rooms, each with its own bathroom. To ensure the safety of patients, each room is designed to minimize ligature risk to provide both privacy and safety. Anti-ligature fixtures were used in the bathrooms and bedrooms as well as vandal proof ceilings. The design team used institutional materials with a residential look and feel to help reduce stress by providing a home-like feel for patients on the unit.

Each floor has a clinical support area with rooms designated for common dining, noisy activity, quiet activity, group therapy/multi-purpose, and private consultations with clinicians. The program accommodated a calming room on each floor that allows agitated patients a quiet area to self-calm through tactile work surface, reduced lighting levels, and reduction in both audio and visual distractions. This de-escalation space helps reduce the need for restraints or a seclusion room.

A centralized staff area provides a variety of open and closed work areas for staff. An open nurse station on the inpatient floors removes barriers between patients and staff. An enclosed private staff area can be used for charting, phone calls, and private clinical discussions.

The design team leveraged new highly efficient and anti-ligature chilled beams to heat and cool the two floors, utilizing existing duct work to maintain existing ceiling heights, and removing the prior fan coil units at the perimeter windows to address patient safety concerns.

The Emergency Department Acute Psychiatric (EDAP) suite is a five-bed assessment area located off the Emergency Department (ED). Designed as the first step in the behavioral health admissions process once patients are medically cleared in the ED, the EDAP includes five patient rooms with a toilet and shower as well as a place to store their belongings while they are being evaluated. Designed around a small common area, the circular design allows clear visibility from the nursing station. The EDAP is located directly adjacent to the security office of the hospital for emergencies.

The project team includes:

Architect: Margulies Perruzzi
Behavioral Health Architect & Interior Designer: Array Architects
Construction Manager: PC Construction
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection (MEP/FP) Engineer: Fitzmeyer & Tocci
Structural Engineer: Simpson Gumpertz and Heger
Acoustical Consultant: Cavanaugh Tocci

EndoPro Magazine cover story: If you are thinking about expanding, relocating or renovating your endoscopy center or department, there are several key space planning concepts, regulatory requirements, trends, options and features that should be considered before anyone puts pen to paper or sets a project budget.

Given the impact that the current pandemic has had on the ability for many endoscopists to see patients and the use of some endoscopy centers for surge capacity, pandemic resiliency should also be factored into the planning.

Click the cover image for the full article by John Fowler, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, Healthcare Studio leader at Margulies Perruzzi.