Ulrich touts Canadian hospital design
as one of the world's most advanced

Roger Ulrich, professor of architecture at Texas A&M, said a Canadian hospital will be one of the world's most advanced when it's completed early in 2011.

"You have a very exciting new building," said Ulrich of the $349 million Royal Jubilee Hospital that's being built in Victoria, British Columbia during a public lecture hosted by the Vancouver Island Health Authority.

Ulrich called the building an "outstanding facility" by international standards, wrote Richard Watts of the Victoria Times-Colonist in its Jan. 30, 2010 issue.

"Ulrich said the proportion of single-patient rooms, 83 percent, will make the tower tops in Canada. The move is expected to assist in infection control, as is easy access to hand-washing stations," wrote Watts. "He said design features that allow rooms to be easily adapted to a patient's medical condition, whether critical or stable, cut down on transfers from ward to ward, saving millions of dollars."

Known throughout the international healthcare community, Ulrich’s theories and ideas have been changing the way buildings are designed and healthcare services are provided since 1984, when his landmark research paper that coined the phrase “evidence-based design” was published in Science magazine.

He reported that patients who had a view of a patch of trees from their hospital room recovered more quickly from gall bladder surgery than their counterparts who had a view of a concrete wall.

Ulrich is the holder of the Julie and Craig Beale ’71 Endowed Professorship in Health Facilities Design at the Texas A&M College of Architecture.

Watts' story is available at http://www.timescolonist.com

- Posted: Mar. 18, 2010-