Matthei & Colin Associates were asked to design a new space for remote care at Advocate Aurora Health with the Electronic ICU in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

Telemedicine is becoming an increasingly important part of healthcare and due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, its acceptance and growth has accelerated exponentially. The well-timed new Electronic Intensive Care Unit (eICU) designed by Matthei & Colin Associates for Advocate Aurora Health is part of a planned consolidation of remote digital patient care and resource management departments relocated outside of the hospital walls and into commercial space. The new eICU is collocated with the Patient Command Center and Central Telemetry Unit and allows healthcare professional to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients using telecommunications. This unit offers telemedicine technology and monitoring for critical care patients in support of and with physicians and nurses in all of Advocate’s Intensive Care Units plus additional outreach to patients across the country. The remote center implements state-of-the-art telecommunications in a 24/7 operation to remotely monitor patients’ vital signs, lab results, and communicate directly with the patient and care team in a secure private manner.

Workstation clusters provide the ability for collaboration and communication amongst medical and clinical staff. Each physician workstation accommodates 10 monitors with a camera and nurse workstations include 6 monitors. Fundamental to the success of the design is the layout of workstations to ensure patient privacy, while supporting a team effort.

The mission critical 24/7 operation required the addition of a dedicated emergency power generator and a central uninterrupted power supply (UPS) system. The HVAC system was reprogrammed to operate 24 hrs/day and all technology support rooms are supplied with supplemental cooling due to increased heat load demand.

Consolidating the digital remote patient care and resource management departments from the hospital to commercial real estate not only opens up space within the hospital to create inpatient and outpatient care areas, but drives less traffic and staff to the main campus. Now, more than ever, it creates a safer environment for employees who fear the risks of COVID-19 exposure. Increased employee satisfaction is also a direct result of creating larger work spaces with windows and natural daylighting all in an environment designed to better satisfy their specific needs. Additionally, there are private offices, conference rooms, huddle spaces and a communal locker room. A centralized common area shared by all departments provides a kitchen, break area, and private phone/meditation rooms for staff use.

M&CA provided all architecture, planning and interior design services.

Since 1974, Matthei & Colin Associates has specialized solely in the planning and design of healthcare environments. We are committed to collaboration with our clients by understanding the challenges and recognizing the opportunities. Through a proven process of listening, asking, and creating, we translate dialogue into design. Follow us on social media @mcaarchit.

Architect: Matthei & Colin Associates
Contractor: Leopardo
Photography: George Lambros