Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center is a full-service medical center that aims to bring health care to the residents of the Salida Hospital District. In order to meet the needs of the growing population, HRRMC plans to complete several renovations and expansions that will allow them to better meet their values of Teamwork, Recognition, Attitude, Customer Service, Safety, Talent, Accountability, and Respect.

Opened in 2008, the Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center (HRRMC) is a non-profit, Special District, Critical Access Hospital, and rural, state-of-the-art medical center. Beginning in 2013 and under new leadership, staff and medical services provided, have grown exponentially within the existing medical center’s footprint, campus, and service district.

After 13 years of positive growth and pressures upon the existing facility and physical plant, HRRMC is in need of a strategic and informed master planning analysis, to better accommodate the needed expansion of medical services and its commitment to providing safe, high-quality healthcare for the region it serves.  

In order to meet the healthcare needs and required services of the growing population and follow through on its goal and vision to provide the highest quality medical services, including specialties not typically found in most rural healthcare systems, HRRMC desires to utilize the master planning process to articulate strategic renovations, interior tenant improvements and critical additions that would allow the medical center to better meet the needs of its service district.

Based on collaborative facility assessment, clearly articulated functional programming requirements, community needs, and expanded service line objectives, the facility masterplan will focus on the following:

• Replacing and reallocating functional program areas lost and reappropriated during the last (7) years of unprecedented growth and increased staffing
• Restoring and/or re-envisioning existing functional areas of the hospital that were under-estimated in the original design or became obsolete through success and increased census
• Expansion of critical Service Lines
• Strategic building additions, site circulation improvements, and expanded parking
• Expansion of Out-Patient and Community Services
• Utility infrastructure improvements required to support recommended tenant improvements, renovation, and additions

From the medical center’s main campus entry point and extending into interior clinical care and operational areas, patients, family, staff, and suppliers, engage across a broad spectrum of physical and psychological thresholds and environments, thereby defining the broader community’s experience of the medical center.

With some exceptions, the existing medical center provides a largely successful environment of care and effectively communicates to the community, a sense of operational excellence, the prospect of restoration, and a sense of refuge and safety within the medical center’s patient care, treatment, and family zones.

COMMUNITY WELLNESS

Strong support, cooperation, and involvement from community members is one of the Hospital’s most significant assets. Integration of community art throughout the facility's interior creates a strong connection between the Hospital and its patrons. Improved hospital facilities will benefit the entire community by enhancing the hospital’s healing environment and expanding wellness programming.

PATIENT EXPERIENCE

The Hospital prioritizes personalized and exceptional care in order to put the “care” in healthcare. Taking into account best practices for patient care and applying Trauma-Informed Design and Prospect and Refuge design strategies, existing and new patient care spaces will be reevaluated to create more positive healing and restoration healthcare experiences.

STAFF SUCCESS

Staff is the most valuable asset of any healthcare organization. Design solutions for new and remodeled staff work and support spaces within the hospital should promote staff collaboration, operational efficiencies, and state-of-the-art procedural and patient care services. Commitment to the staff work environment positively impacts morale and staff retention, while enhancing desired medical outcomes that foster patient trust and satisfaction.   

SAFETY & SECURITY 

The Hospital places a high priority on the safety and security of its staff, patients, and community members. A number of recommendations are proposed for improving security in healthcare facilities based on current knowledge and best practices. Security improvements focus on sight lines between staff and patient spaces, secure entry vestibules, access control, and electronic security devices.

 

GROWTH & EXPANSION

The Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center has experienced an ever-increasing number of annual users from Salida, Buena Vista, and the broader Service District. In order to better meet the expanding healthcare needs of the growing community, strategic expansion of healthcare services, additions, and tenant improvements, will be explored and proposed under the Facility Master Planning evaluation and design process.  

 Trauma-Informed Design

       The physical environment can affect a person’s identity, worth, and dignity. We focused on trauma-informed design to understand how these spaces can foster and promote empowerment for everyone. Mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being all strongly relate to a person’s ability to function. Additionally, they impact their mood, attitude, and behavior which all need to be positive for a better healing process.

 Prospect and Refuge

Based on the evolutionary history of humans, the Prospect and Refuge Principle suggest that people prefer the edges, rather than the middle of spaces, including alcoves, spaces with ceilings or covers overhead; fewer access points (protected at the backs and sides) with unobstructed views from multiple vantage points and spaces that provide an enhanced sense of safety, security and environmental awareness.

The provision of intentional and strategically located “Daylight Inflection and Activity Nodes,” and “Biophilic Design Attributes” that address humans’ innate “Biological Affinity” for the natural world through interior design, wayfinding, and both visual and actual connections to the outdoors, will be integrated into new facility improvement and development areas.

 Biophilic Design

                Biophilic Design is the practice of connecting people and nature within our built environments and communities. It is human nature to seek a connection with the natural environment. Being outside has long been proven to lower stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that the more natural elements that can be incorporated into our built environment result in happier and healthier occupants.

COMMUNITY WELLNESS

Strong support, cooperation, and involvement from community members is one of the Hospital’s most significant assets. Integration of community art throughout the facility's interior creates a strong connection between the Hospital and its patrons. Improved hospital facilities will benefit the entire community by enhancing the hospital’s healing environment and expanding wellness programming.

PATIENT EXPERIENCE

The Hospital prioritizes personalized and exceptional care in order to put the “care” in healthcare. Taking into account best practices for patient care and applying Trauma-Informed Design and Prospect and Refuge design strategies, existing and new patient care spaces will be reevaluated to create more positive healing and restoration healthcare experiences.

STAFF SUCCESS

Staff is the most valuable asset of any healthcare organization. Design solutions for new and remodeled staff work and support spaces within the hospital should promote staff collaboration, operational efficiencies, and state-of-the-art procedural and patient care services. Commitment to the staff work environment positively impacts morale and staff retention, while enhancing desired medical outcomes that foster patient trust and satisfaction.   

SAFETY & SECURITY 

The Hospital places a high priority on the safety and security of its staff, patients, and community members. A number of recommendations are proposed for improving security in healthcare facilities based on current knowledge and best practices. Security improvements focus on sight lines between staff and patient spaces, secure entry vestibules, access control, and electronic security devices.

 

GROWTH & EXPANSION

The Heart of the Rockies Regional Medical Center has experienced an ever-increasing number of annual users from Salida, Buena Vista, and the broader Service District. In order to better meet the expanding healthcare needs of the growing community, strategic expansion of healthcare services, additions, and tenant improvements, will be explored and proposed under the Facility Master Planning evaluation and design process.  

• Enhance and expand patient registration and intake
• Expand the existing waiting room 

• Provide a covered patient drive up
• Expand the existing waiting room
• Increase patient privacy 

• Enlarge patient rooms to increase flexibility
• Optimize staff to patient work flow and functional adjacencies 
• Enhanced staff lounge and respite space 

• Increase space to reduce overcrowding
• Improve staff-patient sightlines

• Extend ambulance drop off
• Expand staff work and patient exam spaces
• Direct access to new observation unit

COMMUNITY WELLNESS

PATIENT EXPERIENCE

STAFF SUCCESS

SAFETY & SECURITY

GROWTH & EXPANSION

• Add designated family space

• Reduce ambient noise to calm patients 
• Add private patient space for radiology consults
• Relocate the sleep lab outside of the imaging suite
• Add ADA changing and a dedicated subwaits for MRI and CT services

• Expand staff workspace
• Create more functional staff work zones within imgaing rooms

• Establish compliant MRI zones
• Develop clear wayfinding and registration points for CT and Cath Lab services

• Increase available storage spaces
• Expand CT services
• Provide new Cath Lab procedure room

                             Proposed

COMMUNITY WELLNESS

PATIENT EXPERIENCE

STAFF SUCCESS

SAFETY & SECURITY

GROWTH & EXPANSION

• Increase visitor waiting area 
• Options to expand and enhance healing gardens with improved patient access points
• Options to add concierge, valet, and security services

• Develop dedicated reception and patient registration areas
• Clear wayfinding and check-in points for walk-in and scheduled patients

• Reorganize and consolidate registration bays with integrated staff workspace
• Relocated medical records for easier patient access 

• Reduce overcrowding by expanding the waiting area 
• Designate walk-in and scheduled appointment registrations

• Accommodate for increased caseload
• Expand and update the patient entry portal to better accommodate expanded services and patient census
• Develop a safer patient entry portal that is more central to the facility

 Existing

 Proposed