Enabling an Interdisciplinary Outpatient Care Approach by Design

The Adult Outpatient Pavilion at VCU Health embodies the Richmond community’s vision for the future of healthcare — for itself and for greater Virginia. As one of the tallest buildings in the campus area and a gateway building for the VCU Health campus, the 96,620-total-square-foot AOP is highly visible within the Richmond skyline.

With 57,135-square-meters of clinical space and an integrated 39,483-square-meter parking structure veiled with gold, architectural mesh, previously separated clinical programs are now consolidated within one centre of excellence under a new, interdisciplinary model of care within a unified design that elevates the patient access, experience, and parking experience. Intentionally designed, collaborative spaces enhance the academic medical campus’ research capabilities, teaching missions, and the quality of care for the Richmond community.

When designing a healthcare facility within a dense, urban, academic medical centre campus, patient flows outside the facility are as important as they are within. At the Virginia Commonwealth University Adult Outpatient Center, two distinct programs — Massey Cancer and adult outpatient multispecialty clinics — were to exist within the same tower with separation of patient and care delivery flows. The design-build team of HDR and Hourigan Construction accepted this challenge and successfully established two unique environments within a greater whole to serve Richmond.

A Convenient and Intuitive Patient Experience

Streamlining the experience for patients and clinicians was a top priority for the design team to create optimised clinical workflows and easy navigation for patients throughout the 19-story facility. Each floor was planned and designed to meet the unique specialty needs at each location. With two separate programs co-located within the same facility, access to these specialty floors was designed to create different access points for different patient populations.

Clinicians are now all in a physically aligned space with a more integrated care flow model. Every floor offers dedicated spaces for patients and clinicians to meet with one another, to bring their friends or families for consultations, or to have multidisciplinary clinical consultations.

The National Cancer Institute-designated Massey Cancer Center occupies a large footprint in the new building with multispecialty outpatient services brought together in a way that centrally locates access to cancer care for patients. The cancer centre also has its own private pharmacy located at the ground level so that patients can fill prescription needs before they leave the facility.

The Massey Cancer program also sets its focus on uplifting the oncology experience through design … literally. VCU Health challenged the design team to have all floors of Massy Cancer with access to natural light and views. With brand new technology — an MRI Linear Accelerator — on its way, the design-build team had to accomplish something out of the ordinary. The new facility incorporates the cancer program’s integrated health services, including patient resources, meditation, cosmetic consultations and patient consulting and access to classes such as Chemo 101, nutritional webinars and free yoga videos.

Designing A Patient-Centred Healing Environment With Local Context

Materials, colours and art throughout the facility were selected to surround patients in a healing, calm space reflective of the character and charm of Virginia. Waiting rooms are filled with natural light from floor-to-ceiling windows. Original artwork and photography of natural scenes throughout Virginia span the walls. Ceilings at imaging and diagnostics feature starry skies, sunlight cherry blossom trees and fluffy white clouds. While views in every direction enhance the healing and therapeutic environment.

This design journey began with a patient-centred care experience at the forefront — and that meant listening to patients’ experiences regarding both the past and what’s expected in the future. It meant listening to clinicians and staff to better understand their vision for how the facility could enable them to deliver the level of care they strive toward while transforming Richmond residents’ experience of the academic medical campus.