COVID-19 was one of the biggest challenges faced by today’s healthcare provider as well as the people who designed them. As COVID-19 is impacting every facet of our healthcare systems, front line workers will have a voice in how we prepare for the future. As such, listening and learning from them will be a fascinating and challenging endeavor for all stakeholders in the industry.

As designers ourselves, we are exploring how to build flexibility into each of their facilities in order to manage the influx of patients as well as comply with the deceased control procedures setup by the healthcare provider. Below are some considerations to take into consideration when deciding on future healthcare design especially from the interiors design standpoint.

Distancing/Separation
Setting up key spaces that allow for social distancing in design will be paramount. Consideration for a more modular system will give flexibility for hospitals to adapt and change quickly without the need to re-design.

Going digital is proving to be successful by eliminating some of the physical interaction between healthcare providers and patients. Tele-medicine is proving to be one of the effective methods in making one less touch point between staff and patients

Human traffic flow (patients, staffs and supplies)
Circulation of people within the healthcare facilities need to be seriously considered, such as expanding the spaces/corridors to facilitate distancing and separation.

Have a very clear procedure that clearly separates the COVID-19 and non COVID-19 symptomatic patients in order to reduce cross contamination.

Material & Surface Design
As the Infection Control and Environmental Services teams increase their knowledge of this virus, new protocols will be developed. Understanding materials and what they can and cannot do will be important to not over design and overspend. Many products and finishes have proven anti-microbial properties, but we will need to assess if they are effective on new viruses.

Reducing physical contact of surfaces is another way to limit exposure to germs. Use of hands-free devices on doors, plumbing fixtures, and other high-touch items can reduce exposure and minimize the items that need to be wiped down in between each patient.

Integrated Technology
Smart technology continues to impact our daily lives, and we will be seeing an increased demand for healthcare design/spaces that will fully utilize them.

Tele-health can accommodate many aspects of care for patients in the home or prior to admission at a hospital. It presents an opportunity for pre-screening via phone or video calls with emergency room physicians or on-call staff if resources at the hospital are limited. Our current crisis has also created support for utilizing smartphone apps with integrated digital devices to monitor vitals remotely for at-risk individuals. Being able to monitor an elderly patient or a person with underlying conditions without bringing them into contact with other people is a great benefit that we predict hospitals will begin to realize on a massive scale.

RBAJ RETHINK SERIES
is a curation of insights on future design consideration by the industry players.The series were intended to spark a discussion with the designer’s network, but tapped into much wider thinking that has seen the interior design industry look at how it needs to adapt its output into a world stalked by the Covid-19 global pandemic. 

For more insight on other major design field, visit
https://www.ribaj.com/rethink2025