Updated June 08, 2015.

As more healthcare systems find it imperative to build their own Senior Care (sometimes called Geriatric Care) Inpatient Hospital Units, the experience and success of those who have gone before them has provided a beacon to guide today's medical planners on their journey. Here are some tips to consider as you set your course.

Create a soothing environment. I may have given you the trickiest, and perhaps most controversial, tip first.

There are competing arguments on this tip, but I think, (as with most things) striking an appropriate balance will guide you through this with minimal bruising.

One side of the argument wants a hospital to look like a hotel. A hotel provides a more soothing, less stressful ambiance than a hotel. A less "institutional" or "medical" aesthetic helps the geriatric patient feel more safe and less fear. Virtually no one argues this point. However, the controversy comes in when architects, designers, and healthcare facility planners create a medical space that jeopardizes the care of the patient. This is done when the vital life-saving tools and equipment to which nurses, doctors, and allied health specialists need efficient access are covered up or otherwise hidden from view in the name of creating a soothing, hotel-like environment. There are many who consider this side of the argument more important than creating a hospital tat looks like a hotel.

This is where appropriate compromise needs to reign.

First, keep your eyes on the most important end-state you need in the environment of care that you are planning:

Create a space that enables the highest quality of medical care possible for your patients.

By keeping this goal in mind, it becomes easier to take navigate your team to a logical design that satisfies all parties. Yes, evidence-based design principles have shown that a hospital floor with the comforts of a hotel soothe the patient, reduce stress, lower blood pressure, enhance their mood, and encourage the family and other visitors to stay longer. All of which helps the patient heal faster, and thus reduces the hospital's length of stay data and raises patient satisfaction scores. These are all valid business and patient care benefits.

But you don't have to go to an extreme and diminish efficient access to life-saving medical supplies and equipment to achieve these positive results.

Bonus Tips: Real Examples That Marry A Soothing Environment With High-Quality Care

No need to hide all of your most commonly used tools. One of the most common reasons people complain about an "ugly" room are the holes in the walls. Here's how to make an ugly healthcare space (file this under "What NOT to Do"):

Step 1: Screw your paper towel dispenser, soap dispenser, hand sanitizer, sani-wipes tub dispenser, sharps container, glove box holder, thermometer, or sphygmomanometer into the wall.

Step 2: Re-locate any of those necessary medical care items, either because the staff finds that the current location doesn't work for them, or because the purchasing contract changed and you have to replace any of those items with the new vendor's version and it doesn't fit where the last one did.

Step 3: Wait a long time to patch and paint the holes in the walls that will result from relocating the equipment.

That's how it's done. A simple three step process. The walls will look like swiss cheese, and people will start to think the staff cares little for its building. It's a short stretch of the imagination for patients and family to equate this with how well the institution cares for its patients.

The realization people eventually have is that it's not the supplies and equipment that are stressing out the patients, it's the lack of care and disorganization in how they are kept.

One solution many hospitals have embraced is the use of equipment rail. The rail can be dressed up with an attractive laminate insert in the fascia of the aluminum rail. All of the items listed above (and many more) can be mounted on the rail using a quick-release bracket. The staff can then relocate their supplies and equipment to the space on the rail that best enables efficient care, and allows them to make minor changes to test process improvements. Purchasing contracts can change, equipment can be swapped out in favor of the new contract, and if the new model doesn't fit in the former location because it is a different size, staff can quickly and cleanly relocate the item without unscrewing from the wall and creating holes that need to be patched and painted.

Bonus Benefit for Better Care and Your Bottom Line: By keeping these tools of the caregiver's trade within close reach, planners are doing their part in enabling the hospital's 5S Lean mindset. 5S Lean healthcare practice provides a favorable return on investment for your patient satisfaction scores, caregiver efficiency, and inventory control.

For more medical supply and healthcare design ideas, read:

Medical Supply Planning for the Senior Care Unit

The Benefits of Floor Space in Healthcare Design