Critical Recovery Unit Relies on Vinyl -- Architects Create Healing Environments

The Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center, headquartered in Phoenix, is Arizona's largest hospital with 570 licensed beds and a staff of nearly 1,800 physicians representing 45 different specialties. The hospital is internationally recognized for its life-enhancing environments that promote healing. One of its most prominent features is a 4,045 square foot City of Hope/Good Samaritan bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit that can accommodate seven patients and six outpatients.

According to medical research, these BMT units are critical to the successful recovery of patients. A typical hospital stay after a bone marrow transplant is from four to six weeks, during which time a patient is isolated and under strict monitoring because transplanted healthy bone marrow cells tend to attack a patient's cells as though they were foreign organisms, leaving the patient vulnerable to infections.

The Challenge

The staff at Good Samaritan enlisted The Stein-Cox Group, Inc., headquartered in Phoenix, to design an environment that would have a home-like feel while adhering to strict code requirements. According to Morris "Mo" Stein, AIA, partner, "BMT units have to be extremely clean. Health code specifications require a sterility level akin to that of an operating room." 

This was a unique design challenge for Stein-Cox's interior designer, Kim Dalton. "This is an area where patients need aesthetics, yet we couldn't design anything that could collect dust," Dalton said. "That meant we eliminated framed art, carpet, fabric upholstery and even something as simple as a lamp."

The Solution

Stein-Cox's design team brought the beauty of nature inside the department by using patterns in the vinyl flooring, faux finishes on the walls and hand-painted murals in every patient room. According to Dalton, movement on the floors was created through a combination of colors. The design team chose the colors of adobe, verde and wood violet. The overall design was greatly enhanced by the use of several colors and intricate vinyl patterns.

The homogenous flooring, made by Mannington Commercial, is designed specifically to meet the demands of operating rooms and can be seamed by means of heat welding to seal out germs and moisture. According to Stein, "There are few materials that can stand up to the excessive cleaning of sterile environments. Vinyl flooring is impervious to water and welded seams can prevent contaminants from being lodged in the seam area."

John Niziolek, project architect for Stein-Cox, said, "Despite the complexity of the floor pattern, vinyl allowed us to create a monolithic floor. Vinyl also has the flexibility to create coved corner joints by lifting up onto walls, thereby prohibiting dust from collecting at the joints where the walls intersect with the floor."

Another area of concern for the architects was acoustics. According to Niziolek, vinyl is softer and quieter underfoot than some other resilient flooring materials. "We had to think about the patients and how some would have a need for quiet."

Good Samaritan's campus project director Bill Walker is impressed by the intricacy of the vinyl flooring. "I don't think the pictures do the floor justice. It was installed three years ago and it looks like it was put down yesterday. The curves of the inlay, including the geometric cuts, are incredible." 

According to Walker, the renovation paid for itself in one year - which is very good compared to the industry standard of nearly five years. He says this is because patients can tour the facility and choose a room they like the most. He also attributes the BMT unit's success to its overall design. "We have done three other renovations since completing this project and all have incorporated a philosophy of creating healing environments for both patients and employees."

The Architects

The Stein-Cox Group is a Phoenix-based, 17-person architecture and planning firm. The firm is recognized as a national leader in the design of technology-driven health care, including diagnostic imaging, cardiac and radiation therapy projects, particularly in an environment of consistent technological and economic change. A majority of the firm's work involves innovative approaches to rethinking existing healthcare facilities and planning new healthcare facility strategies. With facilities and clients of diverse size and complexity, the firm has earned a reputation for "patient focused" design projects. Mo Stein is a founding member of the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) that was formed in January 2000 to ensure the quality of health care by offering board certification. The ACHA is the first such specialized certification effort within the architectural field.