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

Marta Łukasik and Anna Porębska
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Marta Łukasik: Faculty of Architecture, Krakow University of Technology, 31-155 Krakow, Poland
Anna Porębska: Faculty of Architecture, Krakow University of Technology, 31-155 Krakow, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 2, 1-18

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: public health; healthcare facilities; hospitals; post-2020 hospital design; strategic decision making; risk management; disaster response (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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