Hospital renovations take a page from high-end hotels

It's hard to believe this is a hospital...BD

(Business 2.0 Magazine) -- Windowless corridors, drab paint and crowded rooms have typified hospitals for more than a century - and the effect can be downright depressing.
Get ready for a radical shift.
Meanwhile, hospitals built in the 1950s to serve the parents of boomers are nearing the end of their life cycle. "It's like a perfect storm," says Anjali Joseph, director of research at the Center for Health Design. She expects a golden age of health-care construction, with U.S. spending projected to top $45 billion this year, up from $11.6 billion in 1997.

The extensive use of natural light has led to shorter patient stays and a happier staff at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich.

By embracing a new school of thought called evidence-based design, a few pioneering hospitals have shown that more creatively planned facilities can lead to satisfied patients, a happier staff, and a healthier bottom line.
The model for these new medical centers: high-end hotels.
Take, for example, Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, Mich. The lush greenery, indoor pond, and reading spaces in its lobby could just as easily belong in a Hilton. So could the entryway of Parrish Medical Center in Titusville, Fla., completed just four and a half years ago, with its soaring glass dome roof and tranquil pool. Musicians play classical music there several days a week.
The changes--especially the natural light and soothing music--receive high marks from the staff, and costly employee turnover has dropped from a 14 percent annual rate to 12.5 percent since 2001.