Full-Service Hospital Designed to Enhance the Patient Experience, Elevate UF Health Brand

A 160,000-square-foot, full-service hospital has been completed on the UF Health North campus in Jacksonville, Florida. The five story, 92-bed facility is the second phase of improvements and is connected to an existing ambulatory care center and medical office complex. The project team included Gresham, Smith and Partners and Batson-Cook/Danis Construction.

The facility is LEED Silver-registered and includes a 12-bed labor and delivery unit, an 8-bed women’s services unit, a 24-bed intensive care unit and two floors that accommodate 24-bed medical and surgical suites each. In addition to all-private patient rooms, the tower also includes shared amenity spaces, such as conference rooms, dining, a chapel and courtyard spaces.

“Our team developed a clear aesthetic concept for the medical center, with geometric forms that interpreted the site’s protected wetlands and the nearby Intracoastal Waterway,” commented Penny Houchens, IIDA, LEED AP, NCIDQ, Lean, senior interior designer, Gresham, Smith and Partners. “Furniture, materials selection and art installations keep with the contemporary architectural feel of the building. Patients and staff are offered access to an abundance of natural light, views to the green roof from patient rooms and waiting areas, and hundreds of photographs depicting the local landscape and wildlife are used to create positive distraction and serve as a wayfinding tool in the facility.”

Advanced technology was incorporated into the facility to enhance the overall patient experience. Every patient room is equipped with a multifaceted entertainment and education system that allows patients to control their room’s lighting, temperature and solar shade system. Patients can also watch on-demand entertainment, order meals and surf the internet from their bed with a bedside tablet. Staff will be able to use the system to notify bed tracking when a room is available, give discharge instructions and provide telemedicine opportunities for the physicians and patients.