Hospital infections and the toll they can take have been on our radar for a while now, thanks largely to Howie McKew championing the issue. Most recently, Dr. Stephanie Taylor of Taylor Healthcare Commissioning (Stowe, VT) wrote a July feature, “Managing Your Hospital Building Can Save Patient Lives.” That was just a part one, and we look forward to the other part in November. While we traditionally attack designs and facilities with energy efficiency at the front of our minds, these environments and their unusually vulnerable populations demand a reorganization of project team priorities.
This situation didn’t get any easier with the release last month of a study conducted by Duke University Medical Center scientists between 2008 and 2112. I encourage you to check out the radio show Here And Now and the quick 9-minute interview they conducted with Dr. Joshua Thaden. You can go to http://hereandnow.wbur.org and search his name to pull up the full interview.