PHILADELPHIA, PA — The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM), in partnership with Doylestown Health, has completed phase three of the new $54-million, 100,000-square-foot, three-story addition to Doylestown Hospital, called the Cardiovascular and Critical Care Pavilion. Phase three marks another milestone in the hospital’s commitment to expanding care for their most vulnerable patients, with the fit-out of a new 32-bed intensive/intermediate care unit on the pavilion’s third floor.

The ICU/IMU is designed with private universal rooms to flex between the hospital’s increasing demand for intensive care and step-down beds. Three zones are designed in the patient room specific to clinical, patient, and family functions, indicated by a change in flooring pattern and ceiling height. The SLAM health care design team worked closely with the clinical staff to incorporate best practice and evidence-based design principles and amenities.

“The design of the facility is a result of a collective process with the hospital,” said Dawn Thornton, AIA, SLAM Architect and Lead Designer on the project. “All departments of the hospital were included at some level in the design reviews, material selections, and mockups."

The unit focuses on patient-centered care to promote safety and noise reduction as well as efficiency and enhanced workflow of the staff. “Pods” centered around eight patient rooms are designed to expedite response time to patient needs and to reduce movement and supplies in the corridors. Curved corridor walls allow visual connection from the nurse station to the decentralized stations and into the rooms. Glass-walled rooms behind the nurse stations allow close collaboration between the staff while maintaining the visual connection.

A family comfort room with large floor-to-ceiling windows is located at the end of the unit and provides home-like amenities, laptop counter, and views to nature. Respite rooms in the unit offer families a place to be together. Family and visitors benefit from the Pavilion’s atrium café that offers heart-healthy eating options.

The next and final phases of the pavilion is an outpatient cardiac services suite on the first floor of the bed wing. The cardiac services suite includes a Cardiac/Pulmonary Rehabilitation Gym and Preadmissions Testing (currently under construction) as well as Cardiac Diagnostic Testing and Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons’ offices, which is in the planning stage to complete the Cardiovascular and Critical Care Pavilion.