Expansion and upgrade reflects a new trend of hospitals re-visioning the emergency department as a main entrance

A case study on how design can make a small space larger
NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 8, 2011 — Well more than half of all patients admitted to Summit Medical Center arrive via the emergency department – and they aren’t always gentle arrivals. It is the emergency department, after all. That’s why this part of the hospital is designed to take a beating and still look great.

And thanks to excellent maintenance, Summit’s emergency department still looked good 15 years after the hospital opened. But it had become way too small, as changes in America’s healthcare system have caused more people to use of the emergency department than they did 15 years ago.

So, Summit turned the necessity of enlarging the department into an opportunity to make it a more inviting entry to the hospital, as well as a more commodious treatment area.

“Like many hospitals across the nation, we are...