On Thursday, November 14^th, CREW Boston’s Meds & Eds Group hosted members for a panelist discussion on “Current Drivers in Emergency Department Planning, Design, and Construction.”
 
Held at BR+A, the panelists included Kathleen Hylka, Vice President Facilities and Support Services at UMass Memorial Health; Sonal V. Gandhi, Vice President of Real Estate, Planning and Construction at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Paula Quan, Vice President of Capital Planning and Design at Children's Hospital Boston, moderated by CREW Boston member Jennifer Sutherby, Vice President at Redgate.
 
A hospital’s emergency department (ED) supports the highest throughputs of outpatients and increasingly is the first stop for many patients who will require extended care plans. The confluence of Covid, a growing mental health crisis, labor and access shortages, and surging patient demand has reinforced the criticality of the emergency department, and as such, the considerations for operations, design, and patient outcomes have evolved. During the discussion, all three panelists talked about how these changes have affected their hospital systems and detailed their plans for the future.
 
Thanks to Kathleen, Sonal, and Paula for an insightful discussion; to Jennifer for moderating; and to BR+A for letting us use their space.