Healing environment is designed to make hospital stays more comfortable 
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — International architecture, planning and design firm RTKL designed a recent expansion of Community Hospital South to give the hospital much-needed additional capacity while also creating a higher-quality healing environment that helps improve patient care and recovery.
The $130-million project added a new patient tower, surgical expansion, and facilities plant to the hospital. The five-story, 194,000-square-foot patient tower boosts hospital capacity from 110 beds to 150 all-private rooms. Six new next-generation surgical suites accommodate multiple disciplines through innovative integration and advanced imaging capabilities. The project also includes a 100,000-square-foot renovation of existing spaces, including patient rooms, kitchen, central sterile, pre-and post-op, daybed unit, and PACU. Through careful phasing, all hospital services were kept operational during the renovation.
The expansion, designed in collaboration with medical staff and the community, addresses growing demand at a facility where patient volumes increased 20 percent in the two years prior to the project’s completion.
“Not only does the facility have added space for more patients, it is a comfortable, healing environment that helps reduce patient and family stress and that supports caregiver efficiency,” said John Castorina, AIA, RTKL vice president in charge of the project.
With enough space to accommodate additional equipment, rooms adjust to the level of medical care required, minimizing the need to move patients from one room to another. Decentralized nurse stations help caregivers work in close proximity to patients. The healing environment also addresses the emotional side of recovery by integrating large windows, expansive views, sunlight, and nature-inspired themes.
