Guerin Children’s Inpatient Pediatric Unit at Cedars-Sinai Provides Interactive, Family Friendly Healing Environment

The newly opened Guerin Children’s pediatric medical-surgical inpatient unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California advances an ambitious vision for the future of children’s healthcare.

Located in the Beverly Grove neighborhood, the 23,000-square-foot, 26-bed unit delivers specialized medical care for its patients, including a full complement of pediatric specialties.

Guerin Children’s also offers an array of amenities such as a playroom, game room and family reception and waiting area with an interactive screen that takes up much of the wall space. Rounding out the unit are staff workspaces, including large nurse stations with collaborative areas for teaming, a conference room, a large staff lounge and respite rooms to provide a staff-focused work environment, as well as support advanced medical education.

Each patient room is a “safe zone,” meaning no treatment or procedures occur in the rooms themselves. Each patient room also includes abundant family space so that patients can have their support teams by their side. There also is a family lounge with kitchenette, showers for family members and furniture in each room that can be converted into beds.

Advanced technology maintains a strong presence in patient rooms, which have monitors for video calls to loved ones that can also be used for patients’ schooling or to watch TV. When not in active use, patients can choose artwork, including their own, to display on these monitors. Each room also has a tablet that helps patients order food and allows them to control interior room lighting, as well as window lighting that can be customized to a color of their choice and projects out onto the street below.

Hallway walls are also equipped with technology that can display digital artwork created by patients and professional artists, alike. Furthermore, these walls can host character animations, which sense movement and “walk” alongside patients down the hallway to put them at ease.

The incorporation of biophilia is a critical component of patient well-being throughout the unit. One way this is promoted is through three large ceiling lighting fixtures that mimic natural skylights, which are installed at major intersections in the unit. These artificial skylights are timed to brighten and darken as the sun rises and sets, offering a sense of daylighting that is often mistaken for a true skylight.

An outdoor healing garden provides a peaceful respite away from technology. The garden includes colorful sculptural elements such as frogs and rabbits and a leaf table. A canopy of large steel flower sculptures in pastel yellow,  green and  purple provide shade and shield views of the surrounding hospital buildings. There is sufficient space and clearance for a hospital bed to be moved into the garden, so all patients can experience the quiet serenity of the outdoors.

The art infused throughout the unit not only aligns with the design, but also supports the notable art program of Cedars-Sinai with fresh, exciting new pieces meant to both engage and soothe patients. The halls display carefully curated art installations meant to span all ages, as well as a wall of 3D clouds. Even nurse stations in the unit display art, and patients will soon be able to contribute by sending artwork from their room tablet to be shared digitally on a rotating basis.

The project team included HGA, Layton Construction, Degenkolb Engineers, Affiliated Engineers, Criterion Systems, Newson Brown Acoustics, SKA Design, St. Onge Company, MIG, MGAC, Coffman Engineers, Intertek, Aesthetics and AVI-SPL.

Photos courtesy of Kim Rodgers.\