by Brianna Crandall — March 4, 2011—Searching for the brightest ideas in healthcare design and delivery, Kaiser Permanente is holding an open hospital design competition inviting students, architects, engineers, designers and teams of multidisciplinary thinkers from around the world to conceptualize new ways to deliver high-quality health care. The competition is looking for the innovative use of technology and facility design to improve access to care and foster collaboration and quality while remaining efficient and affordable.
The “Small Hospital, Big Idea” competition seeks design concepts for a small, eco-conscious, patient- and family-friendly healing environment that has near-zero impact on the environment while using the best in emerging medical technology to improve quality of care and reduce costs.
The small hospital is a departure for Kaiser Permanente, whose integrated model of care typically demands a large medical campus with a hospital and supporting outpatient medical office buildings. As the organization’s membership grows and demographics change, the small hospital design will serve as a model, allowing more access to convenient, safe and quality health care.
This is the first hospital design competition for the organization, which operates 36 hospitals and nearly 500 medical office buildings in nine states and the District of Columbia. The new small hospital is tentatively scheduled for construction in Southern California.
The competition, which began February 28 and ends March 21, is free to enter. Finalists will be announced publicly in May and will receive compensation of up to $750,000 to develop their concepts further. The winner will earn the right to contract with Kaiser Permanente for the small hospital project. For more information about the competition, visit the Small Hospital, Big Idea Web site.
