Healthcare

East Cooper Medical Center

Mt. Pleasant, SC

Tenet Healthcare Corporation | 250,000 SF | 2010

The design for East Cooper Medical Center, a 140-bed acute care hospital with all private rooms, paid special attention to providing: ease of wayfinding; staff efficiency; comfort; and best practice healthcare design.

The five-story facility has the infrastructure to grow to 200-plus beds and can readily expand to serve the growing needs of South Carolina's central coast. The hospital's campus was designed to accommodate up to 160,000 square feet of medical office services immediately adjacent to the hospital.

The design concept was driven by a desire to minimize travel distances between clinical services and support areas, enhance department security, and be cost efficient. Foot traffic patterns were analyzed during programming to identify how to increase efficiency in moving patients, and wayfinding was simplified by establishing clear zones for the public and staff/patients.

The exterior design was influenced by local vernacular architecture and the hospital's desire to blend these elements with those of contemporary, high-tech medicine.

With the family's role in patient care becoming more important, all rooms in the hospital are single patient rooms and were designed to accommodate extended stay family and caregivers.