New Report: VA Hospitals Could Set Healing Design Benchmark

A new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report, Report of the Task Group for Innovative 21st Century Building Environments for VA Healthcare Delivery, prepared by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) could help the federal agency move its healthcare facilities into the 21st century. The task group concludes, “VA is in a position to transform and lead healthcare delivery into a completely new and revolutionary force within our society.”

In 2008, officials at the VA asked NIBS to coordinate the organization’s exploration for a new paradigm to provide a new generation of high-performance, sustainable healthcare environments for the changing population of veterans. The Institute convened a multi-disciplinary task group to investigate and document state-of-the-art practices for flexible healing environments.

Made up of of more than 25 architects, engineers, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, and other renowned experts in the healthcare industry, the task group worked with a VA advisory group that provided data and information on the current practices of VA operations and facilities. The task group developed five principal conclusions with supporting recommendations applicable to transforming new and renovated healthcare facilities. If implemented, these recommendations would provide the VA with a model that is paramount to the future success of veteran healthcare delivery and without precedent in the U.S. healthcare industry.

A pdf of the executive summary of the report is available for free download here: Executive Summary. To request pdfs of the full report (which is available in two sections), send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words VA Healthcare Report in the subject line of your correspondence.