Regarded as one of the world’s leading healthcare designers, Ellerbe Becket is sought after to program, plan and design state-of-the-art facilities for many highly respected healthcare providers worldwide.
We believe that the design of healthcare environments can impact clinical outcomes and patient, family and caregiver satisfaction. This means that every healthcare facility we design works to improve operational efficiency; allow for future flexibility; and provide a safe and efficient work environment for nurses and physicians, and safety, comfort and privacy for patients and their families.
We learn from legitimate research in evidence-based design and integrate that knowledge into the design process. We are constantly learning more, testing new ideas and designing healthcare facilities that inspire and improve the human condition.
From the groundbreaking Northwestern Memorial Hospital to the rejuvenation of the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, to landmark projects in Asia and the Middle East, Ellerbe Becket offers decades of specialized experience in the planning, design and production of large-scale and complex projects in the academic health sector. Our work has ranged from master plans to significant teaching, research and patient care facilities; projects have been recognized for planning innovation that allows for future change and design innovation that sensitively fits into existing campus contexts.
Whether for an academic medical center, community hospital or integrated group practice, Ellerbe Becket approaches ambulatory care design by planning flexibility facilities so that functional modifications can be easily accommodated. This can help healthcare providers anticipate change and provide for patients within the complex, expanding outpatient setting. Equally important, we design high-quality environments that have a positive impact on patients, families and caregivers alike.
With experience ranging from NCI-designated cancer centers for Mayo Clinic, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, and the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center to the largest cancer hospital in Asia at Samsung Medical Center, Ellerbe Becket is well versed in the issues affecting cancer center planning and design today. Our approach is to design facilities that can anticipate the profound changes expected to influence the delivery of oncology services while at the same time providing an environment that supports healing.
The critical care unit houses some of the most vulnerable patients in the hospital. The design of the unit must meet the needs of these patients, and thus meet the needs of the staff and the equipment that support these patients. Ellerbe Becket has created critical care units in new construction as well as in renovation, in hospitals ranging from small community hospitals to large tertiary care teaching facilities. One recently designed facility created an interior healing garden that is accessible from the ICU. The goal was to provide the benefits of nature to patients, families, and staff who are in highly stressful situations.
Often serving as the front door to the hospital, the emergency department’s ease of access, as well as the efficiency of triage, registration, diagnosis, treatment, and discharge, will form not only the first, but also the lasting impression of the healthcare facility. That experience can establish both a commitment and a lasting comfort level for future healthcare needs. To address the anxiety and stress of a visit to an emergency department, our designers create environments that offer a welcoming, responsive and supporting place for patient, family and caregiver alike.
Ellerbe Becket’s interiors team designs life-enhancing environments for healthcare providers throughout the United States and internationally. We apply extensive knowledge and collaborative process to achieve innovative solutions that are beautiful, functional, inspiring – and fully integrated with the building’s architecture and engineering systems. We continually seek to better understand the patient, family and caregiver experience, and integrate what we learn into our design solutions. We also recognize the potential of healthcare environments to support the healing process and we apply valid research in evidence-based design to optimize health outcomes.
High quality care is our clients’ highest priority and is expected by the consumers of healthcare services. Ellerbe Becket is a national leader in the design of patient care units with more than 6,000 new hospital beds in design, construction or recently completed. We continue to learn and develop the best ideas to enhance patient safety, comfort and satisfaction. Our “Patient Room of the Future” is currently being implemented in five of our client hospitals. We continue to learn and innovate, applying valid research into the design of patient rooms and inpatient units.
We have been fortunate to be involved with a number of important healthcare projects that defy easy categorization. These projects have unique functions: ranging from healing gardens to facilities that are focused on the treatment of specific diseases – such as eating disorders – to hospital-based wellness centers. Some have been designed using processes such as Lean or tools such as Building Information Modeling. The common thread of these "specialty projects" is that they, like the rest of our healthcare practice, strive to improve the human condition through architecture.
Ellerbe Becket has been designing healthcare environments that serve our nation’s veterans for more than 60 years. Through this work, we have learned never to lose sight of our most important collective mission: to provide the highest quality of care for veterans, our troops and their families. By incorporating best practices in optimal healing environments, our designs provide a nurturing care environment that positively impact patient outcomes and staff satisfaction.
Our experience includes a number of projects focused on the specialized facilities that serve the unique healthcare needs of women and children. From outpatient women’s centers to birthing centers to stand-alone children’s hospitals and specialty spaces such as NICUs, our designers are focused on creating non-institutional healing environments that support the unique needs of women and children.
