By Healthcare Facilities Today

Many healthcare institutions are faced with aging infrastructure and inefficient buildings and must expand and improve revenue-generating space. How institutions view the facility design processes is becoming increasingly more holistic, according to an article on the Medical Construction & Design magazine website.

There is a growing understanding of the value of the built environment’s ability to convey brand, to attract and positively impact patients and clinicians, to provide care in safe and comfortable surroundings, to influence outcomes, to operate more efficiently and to use resources more economically, the article said. There is significant interest in reducing operating costs, such as through reduced consumption of water and energy. More networks are making commitments to the environment, resulting in the development of safer and healthier buildings.

Located just over 20 miles from Philadelphia in East Norriton, Pa., Einstein Medical Center Montgomery reflects all of these industry-wide developments, according to the article.  The replacement facility is the first new hospital built in southeastern Pennsylvania in more than a decade. Recognized for a design vision that celebrates the site’s natural beauty and prioritizes human and environmental wellness, the center opened in September 2012 and recently achieved LEED-NC Silver certification.

Read the article.