Hospital room goes green

While I think we are still a long time away from making these rooms the norm, it is a relief to see that someone has developed the simple idea that health centers should have a healthy environment.

If only the rooms this size were single rooms. In reality, a 400 sq ft room in a hospital has AT LEAST 2 patients with 15,000 pieces of medical equipment where clinicians, patients and family members have to weave and duck their way through to access all while maintaining safety. And a balcony? Sure. If it a hotel. Not a hospital. Where is there a hospital with a balcony? And if they do, how do they maintain safety? Wonder if the architects thought to ask a bedside clinician what a "real" hospital room looks like.

As wonderful a concept this green room would be, clearly the architects didn't want to divulge the $$$$$$$$$$ of the room because it's probably exorbitant. No hospital will allow for these kinds of rooms to be built unless there was some sort of bottom line, that is well researched and documented, that says that they could make/save money down the line.

Back to reality people.

Given a choice, I'll take a room that is easily cleaned and sanitized - preferably with strong germ killing chemicals.

Lowering the extremely high hospital Infection rate should be goal number 1.

I've never heard of anybody dieing from toxic ceilings, beds and walls.

I just visited a site called LayZgreenPeople.com . It is kinda like the facebook of enviromentalism and green activism. Check it out!!!

As a man with a Harvard MBA I can tell you this: A budget will always tell you where a leader sets ones priorities:

JUST IN: Boston Public Schools REHIRE 29 music and art teachers. LAYOFF 18 English and Math teachers! Not sold? They are rehiring 17 Foreign Language teachers. This is wonderful! Our kids can’t write in English, but heck they might remember how to say hi in Mandarin in 20 years!

All jokes aside. This is a travesty. The current economic crisis we now face is in large part due to people not understanding the math behind their mortgages and not being able to read the fine print.

So I ask: Did Mayor Menino, Dr. Johnson, and the School Committee even read their own budget? When slashing jobs, how can you possibly justify placing Music and Art as a higher priority to Math and English? Did they not hear when President Obama stated that he wanted the Stimulus to support the advancement of math/science & technology? Or is this all a misunderstanding of the facts on their part? Perhaps they missed the memo from the state: Boston is ranked a dismal 246 in math scores and 257 in English. Or perhaps their image of an ideal society is one of illiterate painters.

Mr. Mayor these numbers are unacceptable! Lets get these teachers rehired ASAP and get back to the business of teaching our students the fundamentals.

Please call or email the Mayor to voice your concern: mayor@cityofboston.gov or 617.635.4500

(I wouldn’t bother with Superintendent Johnson. She is an out-of-stater with a “revolving door” reputation. No doubt she will be hustling on to a new job soon. Unconcerned by the wake of students that can’t add/subtract or read/write.)

To respond to Friendly 72's comment - you are very much wrong. As an interior designer , LEED accredited professional and a design manager for a furniture mfg that sells to hospitals, our company's standard manufacturing processes and materials are evironmental sustainable for no additional cost to the customer. Our company has been doing this for 30 years it has just taken the healthcare industry a little longer than the corporate world to catch on to building green. Yes the architecture(the outside of the building) can cost about 4% to 6% more than traditional building methods but most interior materials these days are already green without adding in more money.

I think this is a great start, it's important to keep in mind with these "concept rooms" that they are just that, concept, every hospital room is a little different, but clearly they have a long way to go before they have this comfortable feel. So many people rely striclty on western medicine, ignoring the medical teaching that have dominated for thousands of years in other countries. Practices that include wellnes of the spirit and comfort in your environment have been a focus for a long time in other cultures, but we in the US seem to believe that prescription pills alone will cure us. Simple ideas like the chart of appointments for the patient would go a long way to ease their mind. Wood in a hospital may not be logical based on how much it can be sanitized. Low VOC or no VOC products just seem like common logic in a building that houses people with all sorts of illnesses.

I like it. Do it MGH for the Building for the Third Century of MGH.

Where is this hospital located?

Friendly72. . .The older hospital buildings of BMC, the former city hospital had open air "balconies" to let fresh sea air into patients rooms. Before the advent of air circulation systems most hospital rooms had access to fresh air, either through large windows or balconies.

Welcome to historical reality.

The whole room idea is too out of touch. Maybe low flow faucets (save $ & water) or updated lightbulbs or unscented soaps make sense but why don't they start with making the food more healthy? It's amazing how salty, starchy and just stale hospital food is. Small improvements in the food like offering legumes (even canned!) or vegetables that are not totally overcooked would go a long way to improving patient health.

To 567zodog, I am not wrong, I happen to work in said clinical environment. When you walk into any clinical environment whether it be acute, sub-acute or chronic and know the budget of the hospital, the laws of medicare/medicaid/insurance, knowing the safety needs of the patient, the needs of the family and what the specific needs (be it green or not so green via way of medical technology), anticipate FUTURE technology and ask a WORKING BEDSIDE CLINICIAN then you can tell me I'm wrong.

Get your head out of the drawing board.

To be, so do many of the older hospitals of yore.
When I say balcony, do you think that the average suicidal/demented patient will have access to the wonderful view and be safe?

And to doesn'tlikehospitalfood-amen. Simple starts go a long way.

This is hardly novel design to anyone who has been working in the healthcare design industry. these concepts have been pushed for years. but healthcare is a for-profit cost-driven field. As much as those of us in the field wish these types of approaches could be the norm, you'll find very few clients who will accept 400sq ft rooms for one (or even two) people.

This looks like the rooms at the Shapiro Cardiovascular Center at Brigham and Women's Hospital. There was no need to build a "patient lab". The rooms already exist and are in use! Maybe the Globe should follow up.

In response to everyone who thinks that this type of Patient Room is not "REALITY," try doing a little research first to substantiate your claims. I am a Healthcare Planner and Architect who is now right in the middle of a project for a LEED Certified hospital, designing with the concepts described in this article. There are many hospitals that are using Green products now and designing this way. There are also many hospitals that already have these types of rooms in use. This is not a brand new idea, people have been designing this way for years. There are many studies as well that show that a more comfortable, "hotel-like" Patient Room speeds recovery of patients creating quicker room turn-over, and hence, greater revenue for the hospital! Private patient rooms are now the standard and have been since 2006. Any new Patient Room constructed, by code is required to be a private room.

I got a kick out of the comment posted by Mike. "Our kids can’t write in English..."
Mike, maybe YOUR kids can't read English or perform basic mathematics but mine can. Maybe mine can because I took the time to make sure their homework was done. I have to embarrassingly admit that English is my only language. My kids speak English and have the ability to communicate in a second language. That puts them at a distinct advantage over those that don't. My kids went to public schools. Mike, readin' and rightin an rithmatic just ain't enuf these dayz.

You cannot blame Mayor Menino for the ridiculous work rules of the teachers unions and the rightous demands of parents that demand raise their childer for them.