Meet Alison Jones, Principal @ Levino.Jones Medical Interiors, Inc.

Ask anyone in Atlanta who to talk to about healthcare design and they will tell you to speak to Alison Jones.  She is an icon of this industry and has been practicing for 25 years.  The LeVino.Jones team designs hospitals, health departments, laboratories and research facilities, medical offices and clinical suites, outpatient surgical centers, and medical spas.  (www.levinojones.com)

www.asidga.org 

As I interviewed Ms. Jones this morning, she stated, "One of the differences in healthcare design today is infection control."   With the new penalties for hospital acquired infections (HAIs), there is a great demand for design, which is attentive to the eradication of harmful bacteria.  LeVino Jones does a tremendous amount of work in oncology clinics.  Since the patients in these environments have challenged immune systems, it is the firm's number one concern.

Another design aspect the firm's designers work on is collaboration in clinics and hospitals.  They create "huddle spaces" in out-of-the-way places for doctors, nurses, and other caregivers to discuss the patients' care.  When designing for teaching hospitals, these spaces have to be large enough for a group of doctors to converse, bearing in mind that the patient's privacy (HIPAA) is of the utmost concern.

Alison Jones is EDAC Certified.  EDAC stands for Evidence-Based Design and Certification.

Evidence-Based Design, (EBD), is the process of basing decisions about the built environment on credible research to achieve the best possible outcomes. (www.castleworldwide.com)

"EBD is more scientific than traditional design." says Ms. Jones.  "EBD gives us good data and research to share with clients about new design and new products.  A good example of this would be the use of silver and copper surfaces for infection control.

Alison Jones is LEED AP Certified.  

LEED stands for Leadership in 

Energy and Environmental Design.

                                                                                              www.healthcaredesignmagazine.com

I asked Ms. Jones how her firm addresses sustainability in their designs.  One area of focus includes lighting design which will meet the energy codes and still provide adequate light for procedures and tasks.  Designers usually have to push the lighting design to the limits of the energy code to provide adequate lighting in these important areas.  She admits that this can be a bit frustrating.                                                               

Finally, I asked Ms. Jones what advice she could give to a student in interior design.  What could she say to me that would guide me into the real world of design beyond the classroom?

She told me that designing and sharing a blog like this is a great idea (thank you, Dr. Chapin) and interviewing professional in the field can be very educational as well (thanks again, doc).  Ms. Jones says that it is important to determine a specialty. Defining who you are as a designer starts with the super-important decision of deciding what your focus area will be.

She also gave me some advice on my capstone project.  Whew!  I've been sweating that one out! I think I have decided what my project will be and the location of it.  Thank you, Ms. Jones.

Meet Jennie Connor, Executive Director Catawba County United Way

              





Jennie Connor

              Executive Director
              Catawba County
              United Way

Photo: courtesy of www.ccunitedway.com

I was completely amazed with the aggressive way Ms. Connor and the Catawba County United Way (CCUW) are addressing needs.  Not only do they support transitional housing for the homeless, but they support a program at Sipes Home for young adults who are coming out of foster care and continue to need housing and support services.  

They provide financial support through the Salvation Army for emergency shelter, along with help to families in need of assistance for rent and utilities.  These funds are dispersed through a rigorous process requiring each applicant to go through an application for eligibility to receive services.  CCUW also provides funding for victims of domestic violence.  Along with an undisclosed shelter, they provide case management and counseling not only to women and children who have suffered abuse but to the male abusers.

It doesn't stop there.  I asked Ms. Connor what they would do in the case of an earthquake in Catawba County.  Her answer was extremely impressive.  On a quarterly basis the Catawba County United Way convenes a meeting of community leaders, such as the fire departments, emergency management personnel, local American Red Cross and its volunteers, the sheriff’s department, retirees and other business representatives including the local  natural gas company.  This committee is called Citizen Corps (www.ready.gov).  They meet for disaster preparedness.  They talk about who will do what in case of an extreme emergency.  They trade contact information.  Ms. Connor said, "We bring people together to talk about assignments so organizations can be prepared when a disaster occurs." She says that in an emergency there are a lot of "unaffiliated volunteers" who show up willing to help. They even set up mock disasters to train to be prepared for these unaffiliated volunteers in a triage center.  They interview volunteers, document skills and communicate with the disaster responders as to the availability of additional assistance from the influx of volunteers offering help.  It is very important to know the disaster assistance providers and build relationships with them prior to a disaster.    

That's not all....the Citizen Corps committee support the CERT program (Community Emergency Response Teams). This program focuses training for team members to take care of 1) Self, 2) Family, 3) Neighbors.  It's sort of like when you're on a long airplane flight.  The flight attendant shows you how the mask will fall down from the cabin ceiling in front of you in case of low oxygen levels.  You, as a parent, are instructed to put your mask on first, and then take care of your children's masks.  The idea is that if you pass out, you can't help your children.  

Okay, here's the big one.  These types of programs are being supported by United Ways all across the United States.  Every county has a similar strategy.  They are not going to let the horrifying conditions that happened post-hurricane Katrina happen again.  I was officially impressed at the very beginning of the interview, but at this point I am holding back tears.  After researching the recent disasters like hurricane Katrina and the earthquake in Haiti, I was wondering what would happen if we had a disaster in our hometown.  Worse yet, what if something happened to my parents who live two hours away?  I am relieved to know that the United Ways are having these important discussions.

Thank you, Ms. Connor and all the United Way staff and volunteers across this great country!  

Meet Eric Krempa, Senior Healthcare Planner @ RPA Design

Eric Krempa, RPA Design, PC

 Focus:  Emergency Room Planning

Photo: courtesy of RPA Design, PC

Mr. Krempa has been practicing healthcare design and planning for 24 years, so I really wanted to speak with him.  Since he is located in Charlotte, NC and I am in Atlanta, GA, we conducted a phone interview.

I first asked Mr. Krempa how he addresses collaborative spaces in healthcare design within emergency departments.  The more traditional hospitals are still asking for traditional methods for registration.  He says that progressive hospitals are integrating more common work areas where the space has more than one user and the registration is being done in the treatment room.  This allows the patient to get to the point of care faster.  The infrastructure includes PDAs for each room or caregiver so that the patient can have everything done in one room instead of ping ponging for each part of their user journey.  These care team areas include nurses, registrars, and other visiting clinicians.

Evidence-Based Design (EBD), is essential to his execution of design.  He says, "We are always doing research."  He finds out what the client wants, then pushes forward.  When a client is progressive, he is able to design innovative, cutting edge spaces.  RPA Design is a member of the Advisory Board Company.

The Advisory Board Company provides best practices research and analysis, software tools, and management and advisory services to the health care and education industries. The Company offers programs rooted in best practices in three key areas: best practices research, software tools and management and advisory services. Its management and advisory services programs assist member institutions' efforts to adopt and implement practices to improve their own performance. The Company's membership-based model, in which members participate in its research and analysis on an annual basis, is central to its strategy. This model gives it privileged access to its members' business practices and strategic plans and enables it to provide detailed best practices analyses on current industry issues. On August 1, 2011, the Company acquired PivotHealth, LLC. Advisory Board Co.  (nytimes.com)

Sustainability is high on Mr. Krempa's "to do" list.  He says the opportunities for sustainability are client driven which means that there is usually a need for researching the true costs of using a sustainability material.  Usually, the initial costs are higher, but in the long run the savings are substantial enough to persuade the client toward a more sustainable product.  He is always energy conscious, especially in the lighting area.  He uses a lot of automatic controls, like sensors that turn the lights off when you leave the room.  He always incorporates energy efficient systems.

Since the economic downturn of 2007-2008, hospitals are being much more frugal.  Even though  hospitals are scaling back, many are trying to remain progressive by integrating family-friendly areas and understanding the need for natural light, which helps in healing the patients and keeping the atmosphere light.  One issue in new hospital design and the current frugality is minimum code allowances and best practices.  The area required by the AIA Design Guides is a good bit smaller than the best practices area suggested for optimal patient care.  This is also client driven.

Since I am specializing in it, I asked Mr. Krempa if he does any design for the aging.  His firm does some senior living spaces and V.A. hospitals.  They also are involved in greenhouse senior living workshops.

THE GREEN HOUSE® Project represents a revolution in long-term care, creating small homes that return control, dignity, and a sense of well-being to elders, while providing high-quality, personalized care. (www.rwjf.org)

Finally, I asked Mr. Krempa to give me advice for students of healthcare design.  His answer; "Dive in and get as much experience as possible; plan and design in all departments. Try many specialties like interiors and equipment.  Have a large, strong knowledge base so that you will be well-rounded."

Emergency Shelters for Real People

On August 29, 2005, hurricane Katrina struck the coast of Louisiana at about 6 am.  Reports estimate  from 10,000 - 25,000 people found shelter in the Superdome.  The horror stories that have come out of that "shelter" are difficult to stomach.  I can find no reports that state how long it took for victims to get back into permanent housing.

                                                                      allisonwright.com

When an earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, outdoor shelters were made for the victims.  It is reported that 1.5 million people found shelter in these camps.  (www.dec.org.uk)

minnesotapublicradio.org

Almost three years later, many are still living in these camps.  I am reminded of an old idiom, "There, but for the grace of God, go I."  This could happen anywhere.  The victims in Louisiana, Mississippi and Haiti were not expecting disaster.  They had no idea what was coming.

ASID is sponsoring a competition for emergency shelter design.  This competition refers to the victims of large, unexpected disasters as a focus group for developing innovative housing in an emergency, using vacant buildings which are already ADA compliant and are climate controlled.  I am entering this competition.  

My focus in healthcare design is primarily the aging population in the U.S.  I have decided to create an emergency shelter for people with disabilities.  Hurricane Katrina took 1,833 lives.  Almost half of those were over 74 years of age.  (www.gnocdc.org)  

In this blog I will be addressing issues of the aging population, as well as the care of those with disabilities not related to aging.  I will appreciate any comments that will lead my research and help me to create an emergency shelter community that will be viable in a real emergency for real people.