Designing Safer Hospitals Before They're Built, How Simulation Can Transform Healthcare Design

What if we could identify hospital safety risks before the walls are ever built?

In this episode of The Architecture of Healing, Chase Miller talks with Dr. Nora Coleman, a pediatric critical care physician at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta whose work connects clinical care, simulation, patient safety, and healthcare design.

Dr. Coleman shares how simulation was used during the design of the new Arthur M. Blank Hospital to test workflows, uncover safety risks, and understand how clinicians interact with space before construction was complete.

Key Takeaways

Simulation can test the performance of a healthcare environment, not just the people working in it. Full-scale mock-ups can reveal safety risks and workflow problems that are difficult to identify in meetings or drawings. Design decisions should be evaluated based on risk, efficiency, and patient safety, not just preference. Larger healthcare facilities can significantly affect staffing, travel distances, supply access, and operations. Clinical care, technology, staffing, operations, and the built environment need to be planned together. Why This Matters

Healthcare spaces actively influence how care is delivered. Decisions about room layout, equipment, supplies, travel distances, and support systems can either make care easier and safer or create additional work and risk for staff.

Testing those decisions before construction gives healthcare teams an opportunity to identify problems while they can still be changed.

Resources Mentioned

Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Arthur M. Blank Hospital - Arthur M. Blank Hospital | Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

The Center for Health Design - chd | The Center for Health Design

Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design - Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design