Art-filled Spaces Transform Pediatric Care

This two-floor expansion housing general pediatric beds and the hospital’s Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) replaces aging infrastructure and responds to an increasing demand for children’s healthcare services in the South Puget Sound region. The new expansion transforms the way care is delivered and embraces a team-based approach care model that integrates family members and the latest lifesaving technology.

The new expansion is built atop the Milgard Pavilion and houses the MultiCare Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital Emergency Departments and the MultiCare Regional Cancer Center. Seamlessly blending in with the structure below, the expansion’s exterior boasts a patterned red brick, metal and glass façade. A new elevator core services the entire seven-story pavilion, and a two-story glass sky bridge connects the expansion to the neighboring Philip Pavilion.

We used Lean and evidence-based design methodologies to plan and optimize the design of this 24- bed pediatric unit by looking at nurse circulation patterns, efficiency of service delivery, operations productivity and patient satisfaction. A post occupancy study revealed new processes and design contributed to nurses doubling the amount of time spent with their patients.

Key features of the expansion include:

• For the interior architecture, the goal was to create a familiar environment that could support the psychological and physiological well-being of the children in the hospital. The interior design follows a maritime theme that focuses on the landmarks and life found in and around Washington’s South Puget Sound.
• This theme is seen in all areas of the expansion from patient footwalls adorned with stylized illustrations of coastal life to a play area featuring colorful fish shapes dangling from the ceiling.
• Each patient room also includes a colored LED lighting panel on the headwall to allow patients to customize their space with color, a family sleeper sofa and expansive views of Mount Rainier or the city of Tacoma.
• The interior also includes an aquarium teeming with life, expansive artwork by local artists and photographs of sea animals living at Tacoma’s Point Defiance Zoo.