Check-In. The check-in area should be located close to the building’s reception desk that acts as a transition between the public surroundings and the facility. It functions as a welcoming gateway, storefront and key information node for the clinical services and should be both highly visible and accessible from the entry. To accommodate different types of users and visitors to the facility, the check-in area should contain kiosks for self-registration and counters with two to three staff members at which patients can check in and provide electronically entered data to shorten their visit.
Part of the counter should be dedicated as a pager pick-up point so that patients can move freely while waiting for their exam or consultation. The area should provide easy wayfinding with views to the facility’s supplemental spaces and amenities.
NUMBER & AVG. S.F. USER NUMBER USERS ACTIVITIES
1 @ 400 nsf 4 to 8 Patients Main reception desk
for 2-3 staff members;
patient pager counter;
bay with up to 5 self check-in kiosks
Near front reception desk and adjacent to waiting lobby
Visible from main entry and easy to access; welcoming
Assumes technology-supported check-in with pre-visit data entry
PUBLIC SPACES:
Features public use areas like retail and amenities that support the primary care center’s integration into the everyday lifestyle and ‘one-stop-shop’ environment. Educational and innovative resources promote productive waiting, as well as better health and wellness understanding.
Public Spaces
Figure 223: Diagram of Registration Flow (Crews)
Patient Staff Family
Figure 224: Summary of Check-In Space (Crews)
Waiting. The waiting area can be reduced in size because of more efficient scheduling and pre-visit electronic data entry. It should be an open, inviting area that is adjacent to the reception desk and check-in and provides access to the clinical pods through a highly visible means of vertical circulation. The waiting area should be furnished with various choices of seating areas and is supported by dispersed smaller sub-waiting areas directly adjacent to the clinical pods. Views to the outside and natural daylight should be provided to enhance the waiting experience and provide navigation cues.
Reading materials or televisions may be included to provide positive distractions to visitors who would also have easy access to a range of supplemental amenities in the immediate vacinity.
NUMBER & AVG. S.F. USER NUMBER USERS ACTIVITIES
1 @ 1800 nsf Up to 80 Patients Clusters of open
seating and tables with educational resources
Adjacent to entry
vestibule and check-in Inviting, comfortable, choice of seating area, open, natural light, views to outside;
acts as transition and circulation zone
Assumes 2.5 seats per care room, 20 sf per person; supplemented with sub-waiting areas in clinical zone
Figure 225: Shapiro Ambulatory Care Center Lobby (Silvis, 2012)
Figure 226: Waiting Atrium Space at Encircle
Health Ambulatory Care Center (hga.com) Figure 227: Summary of Waiting Space (Crews)
Education Area. Education area is designed for multifunctional programming that includes anything from seminars on health-related topics to instructional yoga sessions. Consequently, it is intended to be a transformable space with modular, mobile furnishings. It should be part of the public realm for after-hours use with easy access from the main public circulation space. Educational areas may also be dispersed throughout the facility to support the concept of placing education on display and encourage opportunities for collaboration.
NUMBER & AVG. S.F. USER NUMBER USERS ACTIVITIES
1 @ 250 nsf 10 to 12 Patients Mobile tables and
chairs; technology support with projector and display wall
Close to waiting, with storage for equipment and furnishings nearby
Visible from waiting;
flexible programming; Should be able to be isolated from rest of clinic for evening programs and may have access directly from the exterior
Figure 229: Open and Enclosed Education Area at Phoenix Health Sciences Education Building (www.dpr.com)
Figure 228: Open Education Area at Phoenix Health Sciences Education Building (Crews)
Figure 230: Summary of Education Area (Crews)
Demonstration Kitchen. This space should be near to public eating areas if possible to ease the transfer of food prepped in the demonstration kitchen to be taken to this complementary space. It should also be highly visible to promote its message of healthy living. It contains a regular-size kitchen area with a large demonstration island at the middle. Chairs around this bar can seat smaller groups while a more open adjacent area can be set up with rows of chairs or small tables and chairs for larger groups of up to twenty ‘students.’ As a specific type of education room, it should likewise act as a semi-transformable space with some mobile furnishings and provide after-hours access to the public.
NUMBER & AVG. S.F. USER NUMBER USERS ACTIVITIES
1 @ 600 nsf Up to 20 Patients
equipment with large demonstration island;
seating around bar;
extra chairs for rows of seating
Close to waiting and
public dining/seating Visible from waiting;
can support café with prepared food
Should be able to be isolated from rest of clinic for evening programs and may have doorways directly to the exterior Figure 232: Demonstration Kitchen at MCC
Culinary Arts Building (http://www.mccneb.edu /businessandcommunity/focconstruction.asp) Figure 231: Al!ve Demonstration Kitchen (Johnson & Speck, 2012)
Figure 233: Summary of Demonstration Kitchen (Crews)
Innovation Zone. The Innovation Zone is a unique support space to the primary care center. It is intended to be used by the clinical staff and visitors from the nearby Piedmont Triad Research Park. This area infuses the spirit of research and education into the clinic and allows guest experts to bring their knowledge of medical advances to the clinical staff. It provides spaces for the clinical staff to work with researchers at modular computer workstations. The room also provides advanced technological support for videoconferences and virtual communication. Because it is intended more for staff use, it should be less directly accessed by the public; however, it should also be highly visible to allow the excitement of health research and progress to be put on display. Glass curtain walls achieve this design goal by providing a transparent barrier to the public as well as an adaptable surface for writing.
NUMBER & AVG. S.F. USER NUMBER USERS ACTIVITIES
1 @ 500 nsf Up to 12 Clinical Staff
PT Research Park Staff Research Training walls for display &
writing; technology support
Adjacent to
Research Room; along exterior wall
Visible from waiting area but with more restricted access; open to non-clinical staff
May have extra staff-only entrance from exterior
Figure 235: Collaborative Work Among Staff and Researchers in the Innovation Zone (Crews) Figure 234: Modular Workstation Solutions from Nurture by Steelcase (www.steelcase.com)
Staff
Figure 236: Summary of Innovation Zone (Crews)
Research Room. The research room should be adjacent to the Innovation Zone to supplement the work taking place there. It is a highly transformable, flexible space that allows the researchers to present findings to the public and the clinical staff. Its activities may also include different types of research on clinical concerns, gathered through patient surveys taken in smaller, protected stations within the room.
Mobile partition walls allow the space to be subdivided for this purpose, or for other programs scheduled for the room. This room should be visible from the waiting lobby to encourage the public to participate in the researchers’ presentations on their findings and may be visible from outside the facility to promote interest and engagement from the public.
NUMBER & AVG. S.F. USER NUMBER USERS ACTIVITIES
1 @ 300 nsf 4 to 8 Patients
& mobile equipment, technology support for presentations;
mobile partitions
Adjacent to Innovation
Zone Partial visibility from waiting area; flexible programming and furnishings
Adaptable degrees of visibility/transparency during patient surveys Figure 237: Diagram of Research Room Used for
Conducting Research and Presenting Findings (Crews)
Patient Staff
Figure 238: Summary of Research Room (Crews)