““Heeling Healthcare” is a small-scale pediatric practice hosting a recently developed, female-owned partnership that’s new to the healthcare industry. Having met in college on a small craft team, they named their practice in relation to their passions. Heeling is a term that describes when the craft or sailboat leans over in the water, is pushed by the wind, and the speed picks up allowing the boat to move forward in a confident manner. This idea relates to their main goals for this practice: to provide the quality of care and education the patient needs in a timely fashion to drive forward and gain control of their health and life. To meet and even exceed these expectations, it was necessary that the interior environment be designed to empower the care providers, partners in care (friends and family of the patient), and the patient themselves. To do this, research and execution were heavily focused on five main areas: (1) achieve “lean design” to maximize efficiency, flexibility, and tolerance for error, (2) develop an on-stage/off-stage solution to separate staff and patient areas, (3) foster safety - primarily through infection control, (4) maintain accessibility while promoting independence, and (5) focus on privacy both visually and acoustically. Collectively, these factors work together to support and empower both the staff and patients with the quality of care being given and received at the forefront of every decision made throughout the design process. ”
