Building a 21st Century University Hospital

Creating a State-of-the-Art Patient Room

When creating state-of-the-art patient rooms for the new pavilion, designers went straight to medical caregivers to determine the best layout for patients and staff. Cooper University Hospital’s Board, administration, and facilities staff worked closely with designer Ewing Cole and our own Cooper employees to identify the ideal design in order to achieve the best quality of patient care.

There are several special features in each room that are unique. All 60 rooms are private, helping patients sleep better and allowing fewer interruptions from unfamiliar visitors and caregivers. According to the Center for Healthcare Design, private rooms reduce the rate of infection within the hospital. Furthermore, this provides the patient with more privacy and comfort within his or her room. Additionally, the rooms are built on a diagonal, allowing for improved staff visualization of the patient. The rooms are separated into two areas, the family portion of the room and a nursing/staff area. The family portion, next to the window, offers a place for a family member to spend the night in a convertible sleep accommodation, a small desk and other furniture for visitors.

“The room gives a more residential environment for patients and visitors,” states John Schwarz, Vice President of Facilities and Support Services at Cooper. “We are bringing our patient rooms into the 21st century by providing all rooms with a flat screen TV, internet capability, and a DVD system.”

The headwall behind the patient is aesthetically pleasing with a faux-wood paneling design hiding the gas connectors and utility outlets. Natural lighting through the large windows in each room and the soft earth tones were all carefully selected to promote a calm and healing environment.

Each patient room has approximately 55 more square feet per room than the Kelemen building semiprivate patient rooms, providing staff more space to care for the patient and more dedicated family space. Bathrooms also have wheelchair accessibility with a built in seat in each shower stall. A vanity sink provides patients a place for their personal belongings.

Two large nursing stations are positioned at either end of the hallway with sub-stations spaced intermittently along the corridor. The smaller stations allow nurses to complete documentation without leaving their patients for a more distant location. Carpeted hallways provide staff less stress on their feet and backs while decreasing the noise level for patients who are resting.

“We’ve carefully selected many of the amenities to the rooms after meeting with Cooper staff to determine what would make their jobs more productive when caring for their patients,” states Schwarz. “We truly feel that this new spacious environment will lead to more productive employees and more satisfied patients.”