lsu medical center emergency room renovation

The renovation to doubled the existing capacity of the Emergency Department while mitigating the chaos that is typical with this function by separating patient/family traffic from staff areas.  An additional concept was to make the waiting experience as pleasant as possible during an often stressful period.  Spaces were to be zoned to allow for fast track patients, routine ER problems, serious life-threatening issues, pediatric patients, and observation patients to have proper separation by acuity levels.

 

The space available encompassed five existing additions with different structural bay spacing so creating as simple a circulation pattern as possible was key for the patients and family members that often accompany patients.  Replacing the existing waiting area on the interior of the building and a 'bus station' ambiance which affected the perception of patient dignity, the new waiting area was relocated to the north wall of the space and large windows were cut into the wall to allow natural light and lessen the sense of enclosure.  Staff work areas were positioned between rows of exam rooms where the staff can access the exam rooms directly from the work area and the patient and family accesses the room from the public corridor.  Different corridors are color coded to aid in wayfinding.