It is very obvious when you pass a hospital. They usually consist of large complex's that are comprised of many other smaller scale buildings and services. For a while, in the field of architecture, designing and constructing hospitals was a popular thing, but now architecture has seen a shift towards what is known as the "micro hospital". But how are these structures different than what we know as hospitals? Can they offer the same kind of care and services without the large footprint? While researching the HDC website I stumbled upon an article called "Learn by example", in which the author discusses these micro hospitals and how they could be a solution to many of the community health related issues we find ourself up against.
These structures are similar to what is known as "free standing ED's" or small emergency departments affiliated with a hospital that are spread out to better communicate with the community that they serve. Micro-hospitals are very similar, but they also add the element of acute patient care instead of just being ED centric. They can even include surgical care, overnight beds, labs, and post-op services. In the article, author Robert Garcia aquiants these micro-hospitals to actual miniature medical campus's. With the idea of designing and creating a medical campus being our main area of focus this semester I found this topic increasingly interesting. As we are re-imagining a new era of healthcare, could a solution exist in the idea of downsizing the hospital and spreading out the services amongst the community? Personally I think this idea has a lot of potential due to the fact that a lot of issues that hospitals in areas of high economic hardship are facing is patient attendance. The providers see the patient once, and then do not have contact with the patient for long expands of time. Transportation is a large factor in this situation because people are not able to get to and from their appointments. If there were smaller more frequent micro-hospitals then it may be easier for individuals in need of healthcare to access it.
These micro-hospitals also split up their services in order to accommodate the community area that they serve. Their processes and services depend on the demographic around their micro-campus whether it be younger individuals, the elderly, etc.. This allows them to each handle a specific issue of the body and also have the flexibility to change within the area they co-exist with. The fact is that the idea of what we think a hospital is and has to be is changing. Instead of consisting of a large complex all in their own category they are starting to branch out and take advise from other building types like that in retail, hospitality, and commercial. Like retail buildings, these micro-hospitals are looking towards occupying land that is relatable to the user. They are being placed in areas near transportation hubs, busy intersections, other retail, and hubs of interest around their communities. Because of their reduced size they are also able to take in ideas from the hospitality sector including patient experience and satisfaction with their treatment. These centers are seen as customer care centers so the experience of the user down to the the food they are served and the cleanliness are very important. As for the commercial sector, micro-hospitals are also borrowing the ideas from them on locations and providing amenities for not only the community members they serve but also from the providers that help keep them running.
By reducing the size of the hospital and instead creating these micro-hospitals a healthcare system can reduce construction and staffing costs while increasing efficiency, flexibility, and community involvement.
To read more about this go to: http://www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com/trends/learn-by-example/
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/facilities-management/5-common-questions-about-micro-hospitals-answered.html
Image Credit: https://www.navigant.com/insights/healthcare-real-estate/micro-hospitals-shifting-the-healthcare-landscape
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