Hospitals are particularly important because they best interpret these transformations, promote urban regeneration and have a widespread positive impact in a given area. For a hospital to remain functional during emergencies and disasters, it must be designed with a solid and flexible infrastructure, high resistance to hazards and with particular focus on safety and comfort.
The COVID-19 pandemic also underlined the importance of the hospital environment in the transmission of pathogens and highlighted the need to ensure sustainable compliance with hygiene standards.
"What will the hospital of the future look like? We are already in the future: technology, design and organizational solutions have reached very advanced levels," says Professor Stefano Capolongo, director of the Department of Architecture, Construction Engineering and the Built Environment at the Politecnico di Milano, "The challenge today is to systemize all principles aimed at sustainable, inclusive development from a One Health perspective. The technical brief prepared for the World Health Organization brings together the main strategies for the implementation of flexible, resilient and evidence-based innovative hospitals throughout the European region."
The recommendations address future challenges from different points of analysis. Firstly, the choice of hospital location, with different functions depending on whether it is located in the city center or in the suburbs (the latter capable of serving larger areas). The focus then shifts to the importance of green areas for the benefit of patients and medical staff and the well-being of workers.
The spaces need to be designed so as to be accessible to all segments of the population, including in terms of aesthetics, both inside and outside the hospital.
At managerial level, digitization makes a significant contribution, greatly facilitating the management of goods and services in the hospitals and the organization of work and services in the local area.
The hospital of the future must not be closed and unchangeable: synergies with the local health network can improve services and the resilience of the health system and facilitate patient access to local medical services.
In planning, we must be aware of the risks of infection within hospitals, and therefore pay due attention to air quality control in design and construction, which must include hygiene management.
The hospital of the future is socially, economically and ecologically sustainable, with a strategy that is integral to the entire life cycle of the facility, including energy and resource management, and its possible adaptations and extensions.
Prevention and safety are essential, from the point of view of both general safety and the risk of fire and seismic events; an issue that must be addressed comprehensively: design and construction, maintenance, training and emergency preparedness.
MEDICA-tradefair.com; Source: Politecnico di Milano