One misplaced door, room, or closet can throw off your entire traffic flow, so heed this advice for creating an efficient floor plan.
Talk to anyone who works in a poorly planned hospital, and you’ll probably hear the words “if only” quite frequently. If only the exam room opened to the treatment area; if only the storage area wasn’t so far from the reception desk; if only the door swung the opposite way into surgery; and so on. Details that may seem minor can pose major inconveniences to doctors and staff members. To make your days flow more smoothly, two experts in the hospital design field share their top peeves with floor plans and offer wiser alternatives.
MISTAKE 1: ONE-DOOR EXAM ROOMS
Making doctors and clients use the same door to exam rooms just doesn’t work, says Dr. Ross
Clark, a veterinarian in Tulsa, Okla., who’s been in the business since 1966. He says tripping over leashes and fighting traffic congestion in the hallway are constant battles when you only have one entrance and exit.
Privacy is another issue, says Brad Rabinowitz, AIA, an architect in Burlington, Vt. “Doctors often get sidetracked by staff members in the hallway between appointments,” he says. “Separate entrances minimize interruptions.”
With veterinary hospital design making up nearly 30 percent of his business, Rabinowitz recommends planning a layout— including the number and location of exam room doors—with your specific needs in mind. “There’s no universal way to lay out a hospital,” he says. “Just mentally run through your daily routes to see what works best for you.” For example, if you want staff members to bill clients in the exam room, consider the steps a receptionist or assistant must take to reach those rooms.
