title: Safe design of healthcare facilities.
abstract: The physical environment has a significant impact on health and safety; however, hospitals have not been designed with the explicit goal of enhancing patient safety through facility design. In April 2002, St Joseph's Community Hospital of West Bend, a member of SynergyHealth, brought together leaders in healthcare and systems engineering to develop a set of safety-driven facility design recommendations and principles that would guide the design of a new hospital facility focused on patient safety. By introducing safety-driven innovations into the facility design process, environmental designers and healthcare leaders will be able to make significant contributions to patient safety.
authors.affiliation: Safe by Design, 3616 Edmund Boulevard, Minneapolis, MN 55406, USA. jreiling@synergyhealth.com
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reiling
mesh_terms: D006272:Health Facility Environment / Q000592:standards*; D006749:Hospital Design and Construction / Q000592:standards* / Q000639:trends; D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D017751:Safety Management; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014481:United States