Healthcare facilities are one of the most vital businesses people rely on daily. For many, hospitals have become their second home. Since many people come in and out of healthcare facilities, maximising the space they have is a must.
Many studies say that one of the things a healthcare facility wishes it had more of is space. During the pandemic, many healthcare facilities worldwide suffered due to limited space and capacity. Thankfully, temporary healthcare buildings exist, and many facilities can accommodate patients’ demands.
Maximising every space in a healthcare facility is necessary so that when sudden healthcare demands increase, they can accommodate everyone. In this article, let’s look at seven ways healthcare facilities save and maximise their space.
1 – Identifying the function of a room or area in a facility
Usually, healthcare facilities rearrange their offices to accommodate patients’ demands. When the season for disease or infection happens, many healthcare facilities relocate their other offices to utilise the current situation. They do this by identifying the function of a room or area in the health facility.
For example, there are many cases when a facility relocates its other admin offices to use them for medical laboratories or rooms for a limited time. Evaluating and identifying the function of a room or area in a facility is essential, especially for small healthcare facilities that need to accommodate many patients daily.
2 – Consider the flexibility, accessibility, and user flow of each room from another
Another way healthcare facilities maximise their spaces is by considering the flexibility and accessibility of their rooms from each other. When designating rooms for medical use or administrative offices, it’s critical to evaluate the user experience and flow of the rooms’ distance from each other.
That includes designating related departments that work together close to each other. When healthcare facilities consider this, they make their space flexible for emergency adjustments and accessible to every patient. In short, it makes a healthcare facility’s space flow seamless and easy to maximise.
3 – Considering sustainable space-solution options like temporary buildings
I mentioned earlier that many healthcare facilities relied on temporary healthcare buildings during the pandemic. Temporary healthcare buildings have a lot of advantages that make them appealing to many businesses, including healthcare. One of which is its affordability compared to traditional buildings.
Usually, when a healthcare facility needs more space, they’d consider expanding or renovating. However, we all know that renovation is costly and could have a lot of downtimes. Temporary healthcare buildings are also sustainable because factories transport them from factories to their site. Simply, there is less material waste compared to traditional building methods.
4 – Using lightweight and wheeled furniture
Emergencies are inevitable in healthcare facilities. There are many cases when health professionals need to move quickly and need enough space to do what they need to. That’s why when you observe the equipment in an emergency room or any other healthcare facility, you’ll see that most of their furniture has wheels.
Using lightweight and wheeled furniture like trolley carts, tables, and storage makes it easier for nurses and physicians to move them when they need to maximise their space. Movable and lightweight furniture makes it user-friendly for patients and medical professionals to move in case of emergencies.
5 – Including built-in storage in every room for functionality
Another way healthcare facilities save and maximise their space is by building built-in storage in every room. For example, if a healthcare facility accommodates inpatients, many rooms have storage where the patients can access the things they need. On the other hand, the facility can also put other equipment in that storage instead of allocating a bigger room for storage that they can use for more important things.
Today, not only are storage spaces important in healthcare facilities but even in almost every space that there is. Being strategic and wise with your facilities’ layout is essential to save and maximise your space for future changes.
6 – Placing ventilation in the right places
A facility’s ventilation is critical because it provides comfort to health professionals and patients. And even though ventilation does not take up physical space in a room, its placement affects room layout. If an area in a facility does not have proper ventilation, it’ll likely be a space that the facility can’t maximise.
An unused room in a healthcare facility is a massive waste of space and resources because instead of being a functional area, it’s just there and provides no use. That’s why if a healthcare facility has poor ventilation, there’s a chance that they’ll also experience this space concern in the future.
7 – Using appropriate lighting
Last but not least, lighting affects maximising space in a healthcare facility. Like any space, there are specific areas in a healthcare facility where “cool” lighting should be. Those areas include administrative offices, emergency rooms, waiting areas, and nurse stations. On the other hand, private spaces like private and shared admission rooms can use warmer light so patients can rest.
If a critical space in a facility does not use appropriate lighting or lacks one, it can’t maximise the space. Why? Because the area won’t be as functional as it should be without the proper lighting. Details that seem small to most people affect how a healthcare facility maximises and gets to use its space. That’s why facilities should never underestimate features like this.
Space is one of the primary assets a healthcare facility can offer.
Aside from its quality service, physician expertise, and facility purpose, the flexibility of a healthcare space is one of its primary assets. That’s why maximising every area in a healthcare facility is essential, for it provides an opportunity to accommodate as many patients as possible.
About the author:
Bianca Banda is a writer for Flex by MTX, a privately owned construction and engineering company that relentlessly champions the use of Modern Methods of Construction for social, economic, and environmental good.
