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. 2022 Jan 7;19(2):675.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph19020675.

Responsiveness and Adaptability of Healthcare Facilities in Emergency Scenarios: COVID-19 Experience

Marta Łukasik  1 , Anna Porębska  1
Affiliations

Responsiveness and Adaptability of Healthcare Facilities in Emergency Scenarios: COVID-19 Experience

Marta Łukasik et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed many vulnerabilities of the contemporary built environment along with limited preparedness and low efficiency in mitigating unexpected and unprecedented challenges. This article discusses the efficiency and responsiveness of basic hospital spatial layouts in three different scenarios: normal operation; the segregation of a large number of patients and still providing them with access to emergency healthcare, typical for a pandemic; and a sudden, extremely high number of admissions typical for compound disasters and terrorist attacks. A set of parameters and a method for general adaptability assessment (GAAT) that can be used as a tool in decision-making processes as well as evaluation of both existing facilities and the new models for resilient hospitals resulting from the experience of the pandemic are proposed. The paper emphasizes why factors among which adaptability, convertibility, and scalability should be at the very core of hospital development and management strategies. It also discusses new models of adaptable healthcare facilities that enable day-to-day operations to continue alongside a pandemic, and other emergency scenarios.

Keywords: disaster response; healthcare facilities; hospitals; post-2020 hospital design; public health; risk management; strategic decision making.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 2
Figure 2
Free-standing detached pavilions: cluster/campus layout. (a) Planimetric scheme; (b) Axonometric scheme; (c) Axonometric scheme with the minimum area that must be dedicated to the infectious disease section indicated red.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cluster/campus layout: former clinical hospital in Kraków. Source: www.google.pl/maps (accessed on 1 September 2021).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comb layout (finger-plan). (a) Planimetric scheme; (b) Axonometric scheme; (c) Axonometric scheme with the minimum area that must be dedicated to the infectious disease section indicated red.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Comb layout (finger-plan) of the University Hospital in Prokocim, Kraków. Source: www.su.krakow.pl (accessed on 1 September 2021).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Tower-on-a-podium layout. (a) Planimetric scheme; (b) Axonometric scheme; (c) Axonometric scheme with the minimum area that must be dedicated to the infectious disease section indicated red.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Tower-on-a-podium layout: Rydygiera Hospital in Krakow. Source: lovekrakow.pl (accessed on 1 September 2021).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Atrial layout. (a) Planimetric scheme; (b) Axonometric scheme; (c) Axonometric scheme with the minimum area that must be dedicated to the infectious disease section indicated red.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Atrial layout: Dietla Hospital in Kraków. Source: www.google.pl/maps (accessed on 1 September 2021).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of Poland with marked Covidium hospitals, including population density in each voivodeship (region).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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