We currently face a third wave of a COVID-19 Pandemic that threatens to incur more devastating losses than the previous two. The need for an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) that is planned for response to an infectious pandemic surge in a manner that is financially and operationally practical to implement is urgent at present. The following Space and Functional Programs, outlining the recommendations for a 12-Bed Infectious Pandemic Surge Intensive Care Unit, draw on hours of research gathered from official guidelines, task force recommendations, scientific reports, media coverage of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and a series of interviews with front-line providers, patients, experts, and Perkins&Will healthcare leaders actively working to find solutions to overwhelming problems faced during the first two waves of the pandemic.
To meet the overall additional space need for a 12-Bed Intensive Care Unit to practically respond to an infectious pandemic surge, a modest eight percent increase in departmental gross square footage (over the size of a traditional unit) must be allowed for. To achieve this, the assets provided in a traditional Intensive Care Unit design must be leveraged to provide specialized functions during times of infectious pandemic surge. This means that many of the components that make up the regular Intensive Care Unit will have dual-functions—one during regular operations and one during infectious pandemic surge.
This article originally appeared in Vol 12.01 of the Perkins&Will Research Journal. CLICK HERE to see the whole article.
