Santa Fe Palette, Private Patient Rooms Take Center Stage at Frost Pavilion

In late November 2017, CHRISTUS St. Vincent, located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, welcomed the first patients to the Frost Pavilion, its new wing with 36 state-of-the-art private rooms, each designed to function as an integrated and sophisticated healing environment – an environment that maximizes patient safety, comfort and well-being. EYP served as architect on the project with McCarthy Building Companies as general contractor.

In 2014, CHRISTUS St. Vincent asked Santa Fe what it wanted most from its hospital. The resounding response was “private rooms.” The two-story Frost Pavilion adds 63,00 square feet of space, including the now open medical/surgical bed floor and another bed floor reserved for future build-out, a double-height lobby with ancillary spaces that connects to the existing nursing units and the outpatient lobby.

Patrick Carrier, president and CEO of CHRISTUS St. Vincent, said it’s not just about family comfort and privacy. Single rooms, he said, have helped to reduce hospital infection rates around the United States and are conducive to better overall care. One patient per room makes it easier for nurses and other medical staff to come and go with less inconvenience and is better for doctors who need to have private conversations with patients and their family members.

The EYP team worked closely with hospital staff to explore both clinical requirements and aesthetic preferences as they began to develop the design. Inviting, high-tech, patient-centered, timeless and healing were the keywords that informed decisions from scale and form to color, materials and furnishings.

Intensive design dialogue informed the design of the new facility, which creates a new front door to the existing hospital with a cantilevered entry canopy, and reflects its high desert context with a Santa Fe palette and the use of stucco and stone. The interiors extend the local references with warm colors and natural materials, including the beamed ceiling in the light-filled lobby. Views to the nearby mountains are available throughout the facility, waiting areas are open and airy and the walls are lined with 67 vibrant works by recognized New Mexican artists.

Individual patient rooms measuring 280 square feet, larger than the hospital’s current rooms, which average 240 square feet, provide ample space for visiting families including a sofa bed for overnight stays. The facility features the latest technology, giving clinical staff the support they require at the nursing stations and at the patient bedside.

The next phase of the project includes the conversion of all adult patient rooms from semi-private to private in the four existing nursing units, which will be upgraded to match the interior finishes in the new building.