A "Healing Environment" -- The Keystone of PPH's Philosophy and Action
The Palomar Pomerado Health (PPH) district has a nearly fanatical desire to create a "healing environment" in its "hospital of the future". The "healing environment" will be created by "resort-like hospital rooms" having "nice views with a connection to nature and landscape". This "healing environment" philosophy has been the keystone of PPH's actions for the last two years.
The "healing environment" philosophy was pitched by the architecture firm of Anshen Allen in 2003 when PPH was looking for architects to oversee seismic upgrades to the Palomar Medical Center. Anshen Allen's winning proposal was capitalizing on a fundamental belief revolutionizing the field of hospital design: that the environment in which the care is delivered directly affects the quality of the care.
The initial proposal was for a "healing garden" built into the center of the hospital. See report by the North County Times at:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/
2003/03/07/export5123.txt
"Palomar Pomerado board Chairman Dr. Alan Larson said Tuesday that his vote was swayed by Anshen Allen's vision of rebuilding the closed-in, isolated Palomar Medical Center as a community 'jewel,' complete with a central 'healing garden.' 'The idea of setting the (new) buildings aside and creating a parklike scene that they called a healing garden or a meditation-prayer garden large enough that it can be used for outdoor gatherings or meetings, I like that plan,' Larson said." See report by the North County Times at:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/
2003/03/20/export6141.txt
The "healing environment" philosophy appears to have taken over the hospital site selection process. A "resort-like hospital room" must be about 50% larger than a standard room. Thus, PMC is obsolete. In order to have garden views, the buildings must be no more than a few floors tall. Further, the hospital must "de-institutionalize the image of a 'hospital' ". Further marks against PMC. And a "healing environment" hospital is expensive and requires lots of acreage to accommodate the "healing gardens" for the patients to view. PPH appears to evaluate each site with the following thought in mind: will the "resort-like hospital rooms" of our modern "hospital of the future" have "nice views with connection to nature and landscape". (Will the City of Escondido's Spruce site pass this test?)
But did voters approve Proposition BB so that PPH could build facilities with "resort-like hospital rooms".
No.
Instead, voters were bombarded with the message that our Trauma Center may not be available in the event of an earthquake. Messages of alarm alerted us to the dire situation. "Are we ready for the next major earthquake? . . . Hospitals built over 50 years ago don't meet today's earthquake standards. Is your Trauma Center ready for you?" See, http://www.pph.org/mpeg/spokesperson.wmv.
More dire messages can be found at: http://www.pph.org/body.cfm?id=237
(Note: PPH has no "hospitals built over 50 years ago".)
The "healing environment" was discussed in PPH's Facilities Master Plan (FMP) at pages 1-4, 1-5, 1-11, 1-17, 1-21, 1-27 and 2-4. Unfortunately, Pomerado Hospital, since its rooms are already built, will only receive "healing gardens" as discussed at pages 4-9 and 4-10. See:
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/
PPHMasterFacilityPlan07-2004p150PDF.pdf
The "resort-like hospital rooms" appear to be part of the PPH's newest marketing campaign to attract patients from all over San Diego to its new hospital. See 10News report at: http://www.10news.com/health/4720388/detail.html.
(This piece ran on TV at about 5:40 pm on San Diego Channel 10 News, July 13, 2005.)
The "healing environment" philosophy was pitched by the architecture firm of Anshen Allen in 2003 when PPH was looking for architects to oversee seismic upgrades to the Palomar Medical Center. Anshen Allen's winning proposal was capitalizing on a fundamental belief revolutionizing the field of hospital design: that the environment in which the care is delivered directly affects the quality of the care.
The initial proposal was for a "healing garden" built into the center of the hospital. See report by the North County Times at:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/
2003/03/07/export5123.txt
"Palomar Pomerado board Chairman Dr. Alan Larson said Tuesday that his vote was swayed by Anshen Allen's vision of rebuilding the closed-in, isolated Palomar Medical Center as a community 'jewel,' complete with a central 'healing garden.' 'The idea of setting the (new) buildings aside and creating a parklike scene that they called a healing garden or a meditation-prayer garden large enough that it can be used for outdoor gatherings or meetings, I like that plan,' Larson said." See report by the North County Times at:
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/
2003/03/20/export6141.txt
The "healing environment" philosophy appears to have taken over the hospital site selection process. A "resort-like hospital room" must be about 50% larger than a standard room. Thus, PMC is obsolete. In order to have garden views, the buildings must be no more than a few floors tall. Further, the hospital must "de-institutionalize the image of a 'hospital' ". Further marks against PMC. And a "healing environment" hospital is expensive and requires lots of acreage to accommodate the "healing gardens" for the patients to view. PPH appears to evaluate each site with the following thought in mind: will the "resort-like hospital rooms" of our modern "hospital of the future" have "nice views with connection to nature and landscape". (Will the City of Escondido's Spruce site pass this test?)
But did voters approve Proposition BB so that PPH could build facilities with "resort-like hospital rooms".
No.
Instead, voters were bombarded with the message that our Trauma Center may not be available in the event of an earthquake. Messages of alarm alerted us to the dire situation. "Are we ready for the next major earthquake? . . . Hospitals built over 50 years ago don't meet today's earthquake standards. Is your Trauma Center ready for you?" See, http://www.pph.org/mpeg/spokesperson.wmv.
More dire messages can be found at: http://www.pph.org/body.cfm?id=237
(Note: PPH has no "hospitals built over 50 years ago".)
The "healing environment" was discussed in PPH's Facilities Master Plan (FMP) at pages 1-4, 1-5, 1-11, 1-17, 1-21, 1-27 and 2-4. Unfortunately, Pomerado Hospital, since its rooms are already built, will only receive "healing gardens" as discussed at pages 4-9 and 4-10. See:
http://members.cox.net/4robroy/escondido/
PPHMasterFacilityPlan07-2004p150PDF.pdf
The "resort-like hospital rooms" appear to be part of the PPH's newest marketing campaign to attract patients from all over San Diego to its new hospital. See 10News report at: http://www.10news.com/health/4720388/detail.html.
(This piece ran on TV at about 5:40 pm on San Diego Channel 10 News, July 13, 2005.)
posted by Robroy at 9:06 PM
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