Fable Hospital 2.0: The Business Case for Building Better Health Care Facilities

Blair L. Sadler
Leonard L. Berry
Robin Guenther
D. Kirk Hamilton
Frederick A. Hessler
Clayton Merritt
Derek Parker

Despite deep and vocal disagreements over health care reform, virtually everyone believes that the current system is not economically sustainable. We are spending too much and getting too little in return. This recognition has spurred health care leaders to examine every aspect of hospital operations. But what about the health care building itself, the physical environment within which patient care occurs? Too often, cost-cutting discussions have overlooked the hospital structure. Changes in the physical facility provide real opportunities for improving patient and worker safety and quality while reducing operating costs.

This paper appeared in The Hastings Center Report, January/February 2011, pp. 13-23.