PACKARD CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL AND STANFORD HOSPITAL UNVEIL NEW HOSPITALS IN PALO ALTO
21 October 2008Famed Architects Present Stunning New Vision
for the Packard Children’s Expansion and New Stanford Hospital
BY PAT MURPHY
Sentinel Editor & Publisher
Copyright © 2008
Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital presented their vision for the future of medicine. The unveiling of the designs for the expansion of Packard Children’s Hospital and development of the new Stanford Hospital was hosted by President and CEO of Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Christopher Dawes and President and CEO of Stanford Hospital & Clinics Martha Marsh.
Yesterday’s unveiling in Palo Alto marks an exciting milestone in advancing the hospitals’ plans to build for the future, increase capacity to meet the healthcare needs of the community and comply with State-mandated earthquake safety standards—as well as maintain their role as the preeminent research and medical center in the world.
The hospital designs were presented by renowned architects William Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) for Packard Children’s Hospital and Rafael ViAoly of Rafael ViAoly Architects for Stanford Hospital at a reception hosted by the CEOs for invited guests at the Garden Court Hotel in downtown Palo Alto.
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The event showcased the visions for the two medical institutions, displaying models and renderings of innovative designs that will transform the experience of patients, families, medical professionals and staff by creating a sustainable healing environment, fostering interdisciplinary discovery and education, and improving care and outcomes for patients everywhere.
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital is expanding in order to meet growing community needs for specialized pediatric and obstetric care. The 104-bed addition is being designed by KPF to promote family-centered care and create a welcoming, safe environment.
“The innovation of KPF’s design is clear,” said Christopher Dawes, President and CEO at Packard Children’s. “Not only have they addressed our very critical capacity issues, but they’ve also taken our reputation for child and family-friendly care to the next level. It’s an environment that embraces safety, comfort and privacy, all components in the extraordinary healing journey we have built our reputation around. These buildings also meet the technology needs of our patients, families and staff, and set a new standard for advancements in sustainability. We’re proud and impressed with this design.”
The design motivation centers on the unique “journey” that addresses the needs of pediatric and obstetric patients and their families. The journey begins at the “Explorer’s Pavilion,” a welcoming environment with information and patient services right at the front door. The public “trail” along the garden leads families to their destinations and sanctuaries, either as inpatients, outpatients or visitors.
Single-patient rooms are envisioned as the “nest,” and all have provisions for families to stay in the room with the patient. Places of respite, such as the “treehouses” that view the garden and exterior “overlooks” are provided throughout the building. All patient areas are accessible to natural light and key departments are co-located for easy access and movement.
“KPF is proud and honored to be part of such a wonderful project that will provide a place of comfort for Packard Children’s precious patients,” said William Pedersen, FAIA, Kohn Pedersen Fox. “As waves emanate from a stone tossed into a tranquil pool, our design is influenced by nature radiating from a healing garden placed between architecture which represents the present and the future of the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital.”
Stanford Hospital selected the internationally recognized firm of Rafael ViAoly Architects to realize the potential of designing a new hospital from the ground up at one of the nation’s leading medical centers.
Featuring modular pavilions adaptable for medical and technological advances that cannot even be imagined today, the 600-bed hospital is being designed to ensure flexibility for the future.
The vision for the new Stanford Hospital is to create a healing environment that will care for the whole person, addressing emotional, social and physical needs. Combining Silicon Valley innovation with Stanford’s track record of translating new discoveries into patient care, the new hospital will provide a facility commensurate with Stanford’s clinical excellence.
“We are thrilled to have reached this major milestone in creating the new Stanford Hospital,” said President and CEO Martha Marsh. “Rafael ViAoly has brought creativity and innovation to translating our vision, as well as future flexibility to assure that these exciting facilities will keep pace with rapid advances in medicine and technology.”
ViAoly describes the design goal of the new Stanford Hospital as redefining the model of a healing environment in order to promote quality patient care, practitioner and staff achievement, and sustainability. Light-filled corridors with views to the foothills and beyond, as well as extensive use of gardens and outdoor courtyards, will bring nature into the healing process and provide an uplifting atmosphere for everyone.
The design includes a central courtyard and roof gardens that will re-establish the tradition of the Stanford campus by integrating the landscape within the new building. A sloped courtyard with a prominent water feature organizes public circulation on the lower levels and brings natural light into the center of each floor. Accessible roof gardens surround a unique public floor that contains family and staff amenities.
“We are very pleased to have the opportunity to engage in a project that means so much to so many,” said Rafael ViAoly. “We are challenging outdated conventions in hospital design to establish a new architectural identity for Stanford Hospital that will allow it to continue to provide outstanding care for its community as well as innovate and develop treatments that will benefit communities the world over.”
Stanford University Medical Center has submitted a formal application to the City of Palo Alto for the Renewal Project. The City of Palo Alto is conducting the required Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process, which includes multiple opportunities for public comment. Phased construction is scheduled to begin in 2010. For more information about the project, please visit stanfordpackard.org.
As San Jose Mercury News reporter Lisa Krieger writes in today’s paper, Children’s Hospital must get the new design built to help serve the health needs of young children. Dawes of Packard Children’s Hospital said: “We are turning away 400 children a year. What happens is that those children are delayed for admission — and in many cases, have to travel to go elsewhere.”
As survival rates improve for diseases that were once deadly, hospitals must care for an increasing number of chronically ill children, Dawes said. Some were born prematurely; others have diseases like cancer. “They have ongoing care needs that must be met,” he said.
For Stanford Hospital, the expansion means not just 140 beds, but also a larger Intensive Care Unit and Emergency Department. Additionally, space will be added to accommodate new technologies like magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography and other pieces of radiologic equipment — which are larger and heavier and generate more heat than existing equipment, according to Stanford.
The new hospital would have three 130-foot towers and the Children’s Hospital expansion would rise about 85 feet, well above Palo Alto’s current 50-foot height limit. The project is expected to add nearly 1,100 vehicle trips during morning commute hours and 976 trips to the afternoon peak by 2020, according to a study by Walnut Creek-based Fehr & Peers produced for Stanford University.
The medical center has submitted a formal application to the city of Palo Alto for the project. The city is now conducting the required environmental impact report process.
The expansion will be an overall asset to the Peninsula, said health care analyst Wanda Jones of New Century HealthCare Institute in San Francisco. “Stanford is a world-class provider,” she told the Mercury News. “They are the primary provider for a service area that doesn’t have a lot of hospitals nearby. And there is a rich collection of supportive providers around them, not to mention faculty.
Stanford Hospital & Clinics is known worldwide for advanced treatment of complex disorders in areas such as cardiac care, cancer treatment, neurosciences, surgery, and organ transplants. Ranked #16 on the U.S. News & World Report annual list of “America’s Best Hospitals,” Stanford Hospital & Clinics is internationally recognized for translating medical breakthroughs into the care of patients. The Hospital is part of the Stanford University Medical Center, along with the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford. For more information, visit stanfordhospital.com.
Ranked as one of the best pediatric hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford is a 272-bed hospital devoted to the care of children and expectant mothers. Providing pediatric and obstetric medical and surgical services and associated with the Stanford University School of Medicine, Packard Children’s offers patients locally, regionally and nationally the full range of health-care programs and services from preventive and routine care to the diagnosis and treatment of serious illness and injury. For more information, visit lpch.org.
See Related: HEALTH CARE
PAT MURPHY
Sentinel Editor & Publisher
In his youth, Pat Murphy worked as a General Assignment reporter for the Richmond Independent, the Berkeley Daily Gazette, and the San Francisco Chronicle. He served as Managing Editor of the St. Albans (Vermont) Daily Messenger at age 21. Murphy also launched ValPak couponing in San Francisco, as the company’s first San Francisco franchise owner. He walked the bricks, developing ad strategy for a broad range of restaurants and merchants. Pat knows what works and what doesn’t work. His writing skill has been employed by marketing agencies, including Don Solem & Associates. He has covered San Francisco governance for the past eleven years. Pat scribes an offbeat opinion column of the human family. Email Pat Murphy at SanFranciscoSentinel@yahoo.com.
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