The 452,000-square-foot Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice was the first new hospital built by the Sarasota Memorial Healthcare System (SMH). The design of the new facility combines patient care techniques used at the main hospital with optimal utilization and best practices.

At the Healthcare Design Conference, Flad will join SMH-Venice President Sharon Roush to discuss findings from a mixed-method, post-occupancy evaluation (POE), which was conducted one year after the hospital opened to understand the degree to which SMH-Venice met the strategic goals of the facility.

As the health system embarks on their second new community hospital, they are using findings from the completed POE to inform the planning of the future hospital. Aspects discussed and incorporated include key clinical room types, operational layouts, and patient satisfaction drivers. Feedback on patient travel distance, patient safety, and employee satisfaction are among other factors that are part of the planning aspects of the future hospital.

Learning Objectives:

• Outline the tools used during the mixed-method POE process that provided a robust analysis of operations and design.
• Understand what design elements are linked to a high satisfaction with the inpatient patient room design and perceived work performance.
• Learn how evidence-based design features that are associated with quicker inpatient recovery, such as access to daylighting, could be contributing to a lower than predicted average length of stay despite a high census.
• Understand how to utilize features and proven outcomes in existing designs and how they can facilitate planning of a new facility for an organization.