HOSPITALS
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS ARE in no doubt about the health benefits provided by having plenty of green spaces , particularly in larger , urban areas .
Areas with more accessible green space are associated with better mental and physical health , with research showing the risk of mortality caused by cardiovascular disease is lower in residential areas with higher levels of ‘ greenness ’. Heartrates can be upwards of 20 beats per minute lower when walking in a park versus in a busy urban environment .
There is also evidence that exposure to nature could be used as part of the treatment for some conditions , but until not-for-profit MetroHealth ’ s revolutionary new county health campus in Cleveland , Ohio , no health facility architects had ever put the provision of acres of green space at the top of their agenda .
MetroHealth is a public healthcare system based in Cleveland , and serves the residents of the surrounding area . Its new campus , as part of the MetroHealth Transformation programme , is set to be transformed into an unrecognizable space , serving not only patients but the community
One of the specialist patient-care rooms at the MetroHealth hospital
as a whole . “ We are actually calling this a hospital in a park ,” says Dr . Akram Boutros , the hospital system ’ s President and CEO . He explains the transformation will be conducted using $ 945.7mn in hospital revenue bonds issued by the MetroHealth last year .
About the ‘ Hospital in a park ’ Overall , the new facility will have 25 acres of green space – a massive increase on what it has currently ,
36 February 2018