Already a national leader in neonatology, Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital was able to further advance its services with this four-floor, 120,000-sq-ft renovation that features special rooms for couplet care, allowing mothers and newborns to stay together throughout their hospitalization, and new facilities for the hospital maternity program. Locating a procedure room and other key services within the unit also eliminates the need to transport critically ill infants elsewhere for interventions.

Construction started when changes in hospital staff, plus a restructuring of the NICU’s processes, necessitated design revision. Team members relocated onsite full time to expedite the intricate process of integrating these changes, securing approvals and maintaining the critical project schedule. NICU patient room and nurse stations were redesigned using extensive onsite design sessions. Patient room and headwall designs were fine-tuned using detailed mock-ups that were adjusted as needed to incorporate feedback from physicians, nurses, IT specialists, epidemiologists and patient advocates, as well as design team experts. Although budgets and schedule were adjusted to changing client requirements, the project team maintained the final goals once the scope was finalized. The team’s collaboration helped the renovated areas achieve a playful, non-clinical design that offers a warm and familiar environment without sacrificing life-saving technology needed by staff to care for patients.

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