HOSPITAL UPDATE: New Marin General Hospital Exemplifies "Healing Environment"

Lee Domanico

Thanks to the active support of the Marin community, Measure F passed in November 2013, giving Marin General Hospital most of the funds needed for constructing our new hospital. In this hospital update, I’m pleased to share the status of the project and give you a glimpse into the design.

First and foremost, we are working to deliver a welcoming, patient-focused, healing environment that reflects the quality and standards of our amazing community and location. The new hospital will be a safe, innovative structure with a state-of-the-art, flexible design that can be adapted as our needs change. The hospital will also be eco-friendly to help sustain our valuable natural resources and our extraordinary locale. Finally, the facility has been designed with staff efficiency in mind, so employees and physicians can do their best work in a comfortable environment.

Because creating a healing environment is central to our vision, the new hospital’s innovative design is intended to bring the outside in, with plenty of natural light and views of gardens, greenery and the surrounding landscape. Studies show that exposure to natural light has many healing benefits in a health care setting—it helps reduce depression, shorten length of stay and improve outcomes.

We will achieve this healing environment in many ways. Waiting areas and solariums located throughout the new building will offer patients and visitors an opportunity to enjoy the surrounding landscape and fresh air. Huge windows will bring in the sun, and gardens will be visible from all floors. Large windows in patient rooms will admit natural light, and the rooms will be angled to maximize the exterior view. The intent is for every patient room to have a garden view of some kind. Strategically placed skylights will provide natural light at staff workstations. Across from the main hospital entry in the West Wing, a garden will offer an inviting and peaceful natural environment for families and visitors.

The existing West, Central and East wings and the Behavioral Health Unit will be augmented by two new patient pods. The main hospital entrance will be in the West Wing, with patient parking just out front. There will be two new four-story patient pods to the right of the existing West Wing. The new ED entrance will be in the second pod, with designated emergency parking for patients. Staff and physician parking will be in a new structure on the hillside. We’re particularly excited that we will be able to accommodate all parking needs on site.

Our patient focus will be evident throughout the hospital’s design, especially in patient rooms. New buildings will provide more than 100 private rooms, and much of the existing West Wing will be updated and used for additional private rooms.

These new rooms will reflect best practices for patient safety and care, with special features for staff and visitor ease and comfort. Each room will have dedicated patient and family zones, ensuring that caregivers have the space they need to tend to patients, and that visitors have room to be nearby without being in the way. A Murphy bed hidden in one of the walls can be opened at night, should a family member want to stay. Finally, a continuous handrail will help patients safely make their way to the bathroom.

Everything has been placed in the new design to optimize patient care and safety and workflow efficiency. While the various departments will be distinctly separate, they will be connected to optimize flow for staff, patients and visitors. Departments that are related will be located next to each other for improved workflow—whether horizontally or vertically from floor to floor. Sterile processing, central supply and the central plant will be located on the Lower Level. Sterile processing will have dedicated elevators leading directly to the operating rooms, located on the floor above, so equipment and surgical items never enter public areas. Likewise, imaging is right next to the emergency department, since they are often used together. The new operating rooms will be fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology and spacious enough to accommodate technology and care teams comfortably.

We deliberately left room for future building, if needed. One possibility is to add an ambulatory services building with nearby parking structures. Undoubtedly, the plan will evolve. We’re working hard to gather important input as we go, from stakeholders here at the hospital and in the community, including physicians. The building design will reflect recommendations from architectural experts and best practices, along with suggestions from those who work in and use the hospital.

I hope this glimpse into the future of our new hospital has you as excited and encouraged as we are. If you’re interested, visit our website at www.maringeneral.org/newhospital to see a video with visual representations of the floor plans and room designs. We’ll also be posting updates as we move closer to construction.

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Mr. Domanico is chief executive officer of Marin General Hospital.
Email: info@marinhealthcare.org