Cardiac Intensive Care Unit

During the planning phase, SSOE collaborated with Beaumont staff to review and refine multiple departmental options prior to the team selecting the appropriate solution that met their changing needs. While the overall design intent for the 6th floor was to match an existing 5th floor ICU, SSOE added many enhancements to cater to the specific needs of the CICU. The design team met with the intensive care nursing staff who had been working on the 5th floor for the past few years and gathered their feedback on what was working well and what could be improved upon to document end-user experiences. The lessons learned captured provided a foundation for discussion with the staff who would be working in the new CICU space.

Taking this input, and that of Beaumont’s internal interior design staff and the facility maintenance team, SSOE was able to incorporate a number of design enhancements. The new CICU includes a family nourishment area with a kitchenette, room amenities for patient guests that include a desk, area to sleep, and personal device charging stations, and individual toilet rooms dedicated to each patient room with an integrated shower. Additionally, the CICU features decentralized nurse documentation spaces for a 1:2 nurse ratio with windows for direct visual observation of the headwall–allowing staff to see both the monitoring equipment and patient, dedicated lighting for both staff and visitors, and three sub-waiting areas within the CICU to provide quiet spaces for patient family members when needed.

A unique challenge that the project team had to overcome was the utilization of existing floor drains and plumbing for the reconfigured private patient toilet rooms—originally set up to accommodate a single unit bathing room and a shared toilet room between two patient rooms. The team used laser scanning to document existing conditions and manipulate the design around these elements in a 3D environment. Another challenge was timing. The COVID-19 pandemic caused Beaumont Health to place construction of the project on hold. Once restarted, the design was altered slightly during the construction phase to become more adaptable in the event of similar future capacity overflow situations. Revisions included additional electrical outlets, medical gas, and a monitor added to each headwall— allowing Beaumont to convert from private to semi-private rooms.