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By Alan Joch

The health care industry has always had a love/hate relationship with technology. Hospitals have been quick to embrace sophisticated diagnostic equipment such as MRIs, CAT scanners, and digital X-rays, yet stagnant capital budgets have made them laggards in installing technology and communications gear that are ubiquitous in other types of facilities. A telling example of the effects of this foot-dragging occurred last March, when the Food and Drug Administration ordered the health care industry to install bar-code systems within three years—a mature technology that has been commonplace in retail environments for years. The FDA estimates that bar codes could eliminate almost half a million medication errors in hospitals over the next 20 years.

Sweeping changes in medical technologies are the driving force behind projects at two well-known medical facilities, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City (above)and the Mayo Clinicin Rochester, Minnesota (below). Photography: © John Bartelstone

Fortunately, examples of this go-slow approach may be getting rare. Renovations and construction of new hospitals are layering new computers and communications gear on top of existing IT infrastructures. “The overarching issue in health care today is change, and technology is playing a big part in that,” says John Pangrazio, FAIA, a partner at the Seattle architectural firm NBBJ and the leader of the company’s health care practice.

Photography: © Steve Bergerson

The following case studies illustrate ways that architects are integrating new technologies into three markedly different health care projects. In each case, technology was a core design element that shaped each project’s goals and program.

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