Post Natal Nurse Home Visitor Program
Pharmacy Residency (PGY1)

Healing environment, privacy a major component of new Parkland

Quiet surroundings will be evident in patient rooms

When Parkland Health & Hospital System staff first put pencil to paper to design its new hospital, a primary focus was to provide a state-of-the-art healing environment in which patient privacy was paramount. From incorporating an on-stage, off-stage design to reduced foot traffic and noise in patient care areas to innovative whisper-quiet vision panels in patient rooms, when it opens in 2015 the new Parkland will be a showcase for the industry’s best practices.

Although evidence-based design has been shown to vastly improve patient outcomes, Parkland officials took it a step further by working with a Florida-based manufacturer that redesigned its vision panel specifically for the new hospital. The Impact Absorption System (IAS), which is a patent-pending damper system that glides a middle sheet of glass from open to close within windows and doors on patient rooms, quietly allows for privacy or observation. A vision panel is described as a hybrid of an insulated blind (blinds sealed in two sheets of glass) and electronic glass (glass that switches from clear to opaque, automatically) while offering an aesthetically pleasing and low maintenance design.

“This was a situation where we noticed that when we lowered the middle sheet of glass into the closed position it created a noisy environment,” said Lou Saksen, Parkland’s Senior Vice President of New Parkland Construction. “When we took our concerns to the manufacturer, they redesigned their product to eliminate any noise.”

Patient privacy also played a key role in the development of the IAS, according to Kevin Roth, CEO and Managing Partner of VISTAMATIC® Vision Panels.

“The panels provide patients a sense of control over when and how they are observed while admitted,” Roth said. “Allowing patients the ability to limit observation creates a more private environment enhancing their experience within the hospital.”

In terms of patient safety, the vision panels can be single- or dual-operated, meaning that the control for observation or privacy can be operated from the staff’s side only (single operation), or from both the staff and patient’s side (dual operation). In situations where observation must be controlled only by staff, restricting access is crucial for patient safety.

“In terms of staff safety, being able to control observation into a patient’s room is vital; however, infection control plays a crucial role,” Saksen said.

“The vision panels give staff the ability to observe the patient without entering the room as well as operate it with the touch of a finger or the swipe of an elbow,” Roth said, thereby decreasing the spread of infection due to minimal exposure and minimal surface contamination.

When opened, the new Parkland will serve as a sustainable community resource for Dallas County, promoting excellence in clinical care, teaching and research in a technologically advanced, easily accessible environment.

For more information, please visit www.parklandhospital.com/newparkland.

Back