Case Study: Long-Term Value on a VAMC Healthcare Campus

A Deeper LookHealthcare design projects - whether new construction or renovation are complex by nature Coordinating the multiple code requirements, infrastructure, equipment and personnel needs, while maintaining a safe and clean environment for the patients is a part of any project on a hospital campus. We believe there is no better way to provide our clients with a successful project than to become an extension of the in-house facilities team and understand the hospital’s mission and business goals from the very start of any engagement. Our process helps define the project goals and we work diligently with the end users to design for success. Array has many long standing clients where we enjoy that relationship. The challenge is how to get that relationship started from the first engagement with a new facility.

This case study is a recent example of how Array successfully transitioned from consultant to trusted team member for a hospital client.

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EXPERTISE

Federal healthcare facilities have an important mission and face many challenges as they strive

to provide the most appropriate care to their patients. The Veterans Administration is charged

with offering a range of services which rival the best private and research-based institutions, while

fighting the stigma associated with historical perceptions.

Veterans who receive their healthcare at Veterans Affairs Medical Centers can be assured of a

high-level of care from clinical staff trained in the specialties veterans seek most - Behavioral

Health, Emergency Care, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Primary Care and Vocational

Rehabilitation.

Between the country’s aging WWII and Vietnam-era service men and women, and the young troops

returning from the Middle East, the VA has a diverse population to serve. Care is often sought on an

outpatient basis, and the Department of Veterans Affairs is diligently preparing their aging facilities

to be more accessible and provide a greater range of ambulatory services. The VA’s Community

Living Center service line, where veterans can living in an assisted-living style arrangement, often

on a VAMC campus, is also growing.

Click here to read an article by Array Senior Planner, Lisa Lipschutz, on the VA’s efforts to increase and enhance services available to women veterans.

CAMPUS KNOWLEDGE

CHALLENGE

A Veteran Affairs Medical Center is implementing several patient focused improvements to their busy campus. An aging facility, limited capital funding and competing priorities caused their senior leadership and facilities personnel to make facility improvement choices based on the most sought-after services.

SOLUTION

By being open to creative design solutions that took advantage of under-utilized spaces, the Medical Center gained more accessible and higher through-put outpatient departments to allow them to serve more veterans with a variety of specialties.

How Each Project Affects the Next...

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OVERVIEW

At a Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Central Pennsylvania, Array is part of a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business team. As part of the planning and design process, the team spends time understanding the infrastructure and business drivers at the beginning of each project, and how that project will connect to adjacent and related services.

The projects outlined on the following pages illustrate the Discovery and Analysis done by the team as they collaborated with user groups and studied volume and census data to develop optimal designs. With ease of access and the patient’s comfort level as top priorities, creative options such as new entrances and larger departments were achieved.

“Our goal as designers of this facility is to ‘raise the bar’ for this hospital - for our Veteran patients and staff - to create a healthy environment that reduces stress and promotes healing. Not simply to update what is here now, but to build something far better using imagination and ingenuity. This goal will be accomplished through an ambitious construction plan in place with firms like Array Architects who use a team approach, engaging the client, patients and staff, to capture what is fundamentally important, introduce thought-provoking design concepts and enhance the healthcare spaces with creative design vision.” - Suzette Poletti, LEED GA

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Understanding the building infrastructure and standards allowed

the architectural and engineering drawings to be completed in a

fast track manner, shaving months from the production sched-

ule. By accomplishing this, the VA maintained scheduled funding

sources within the required fiscal calendar.

WOUND CARE CLINIC AND ULTRASOUND

The intent of the project was to provide renovations to a pa-

tient-centric second floor. Wound care, recreation therapy and

ultrasound are the project’s key service lines.

During this project, finishes were developed to serve as a basis for

campus standards and gain an intimate knowledge of the facility’s

aging infrastructure. Working with the facilities staff, a phasing

plan was created to keep adjacent spaces operational during con-

struction so no services were curtailed. By interconnected patient

rooms - allowing staff to travel between the exam rooms - patient

privacy was improved by limiting main corridor-to-room access.

EMERGENCY SERVICES

The goal of this project was to provide state-of-the-art, high

quality treatment services for walk-ins and ambulance arrivals

while increasing overall department size to meet current demands.

Multiple test fits were performed to determine the best expansion

location and optimal phasing.

The department’s expansion plans were phased so bed counts

and staffing levels are maintained during construction and will

increase after the first construction phase. This will help the VA

reduce their veteran waiting times in the first phase, in an under-

sized department during the construction project.

The waiting room is now subdivided between infectious and

non-infectious patients. This unique solution offers fewer chances

for veterans to acquire infections and relieves veterans’ stress

during visits.

SPECIALTY EXAM CLINIC SERVICES

The project’s goal was to increase specialty clinic exam space.

When completed, 32 specialty exam spaces will be provided. With

exam spaces and essential activities standardized by the new

design, as well as establishing a universal design configuration,

gives the VA flexibility to change the room use to any specialty.

This solution provides the VA more flexibility addressing the ups

and downs in veteran case loads for specialties without over-sizing

the Unit.

COMMUNITY LIVING CENTER

The design team held a multi-day master planning charrette which

included senior, clinical and facility staff to assess project goals

and realize project opportunities. A benefit of having management

and clinical teams together at the beginning of the programming

process is that each hears the others ideas and concerns. One

important issue that was identified and resolved revolved around

offering Rehab Services within the CLC. Once discussed, it was

determined that providing staff both in the hospital-based Rehab

Department and within the CLC would unnecessarily duplicate

staffing. A secondary result of the discussion and resultant deci-

sion was a right-sizing of the CLC from 105 beds to 94.

Implementation

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Once the optimal site for the CLC was determined, discussions on

how the CLC could be linked to the main hospital via an enclosed

walkway commenced so physical connectivity and continuation of

services between buildings would not be hampered. The enclosed

walkway option appealed to the VA as a way to encourage CLC

residents to utilize the VA’s available on-campus health services as

an extension of the CLC community and helped the VA sole source

kitchen, housekeeping, pharmacy and other services directly from

the main hospital.

ONCOLOGY SERVICES

The intent of this project is to provide a larger infusion space and

waiting area as well as increase exam rooms, offices and support

space. The oncology program includes 12 infusion bays, three exam

rooms for general oncology patients, one bone marrow exam room,

nurse station, medication room, clinical workrooms and a family

zone. The Waiting/Reception area will be enlarged and shared by

the adjacent GI and Short Procedure Units.

WOMEN’S SERVICES

This renovation project provides a dedicated entrance and

expanded women’s services. Among important project

requirements were flexibility and privacy. Two key design changes

to the current building were proposed and accepted; shifting the

central hospital corridor to provide a contiguous Women’s Clinic

and moving the Clinic’s entry to separate it from the main hospital

entrance. Combined, these design changes helped the VA 1) provide

a greater level of privacy for female veterans; 2) group like services

together; and, 3) improve wayfinding from the hospital entrance.

Who We AreARRAY-ARCHITECTS.COM

We Are Healthcare Architects

We are a team of architects and designers with unique backgrounds, but we all have one thing in common - we share a strong desire to use our expertise and knowledge to design solutions that will help people in moments that matter most.

This focus makes us leaders in our field. There’s a degree of compassion, empathy, and sensitivity that goes into every project that we touch. It’s designing a nurse station with sight lines to every patient. It’s building a Behavioral Health facility without corners, so that patients are safe. It’s translating the operational needs through the technical details to fine tune the lighting system in a neonatal unit so caregivers can match the lighting to each baby’s stage of development. It is a deeper understanding, honed through relationships spanning

decades.

Together, we discover optimal solutions with our clients. It is our four decades of specialization that allows for effective communication, collaboration and precision in the complex, changing world of healthcare.

Array’s Knowledge Communities

We believe strongly in sharing our expertise and knowledge with others. We invite you to explore each of our thought leaders and share your thoughts with the healthcare design community.

Click here to visit our blog.

Click hereto view a sampling of our Veterans Affairs projects

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