Michael Graves Encourages Country's Leading Healthcare Executives to Design Patient Rooms with Patients' Needs in Mind
(San Francisco, CA) - In a speech before some of the nation's leading hospital and healthcare executives, Michael Graves explained how his innovative approach to healthcare design was a result of his personal experience being suddenly stricken with paralysis and having to recuperate in eight different hospitals.
Graves, an award-winning architect and product designer famous for his collection of home products sold at Target, addressed the standing-room only crowd during a special event hosted by the Antimicrobial Copper program of the Copper Development Association (CDA) at the 2012 Health Forum and the American Hospital Association's Leadership Summit in San Francisco, CA.
In his lecture, "People First: Redesigning the Hospital Room," Graves described how he combined his architecture and product design expertise with his personal struggles maneuvering in hospital rooms to realize that these are "dumb, dumb rooms that we are making….the money that should be spent on the patient room is instead being spent on hospital atriums to make them look like hotels."
He further challenged himself by asking this question: "Can we design furniture that can lessen infections?" In his presentation, Graves pointed out a green growth on the bottom of a greasy particleboard table, noting that the growth wouldn't be a concern if the table was made of copper, but it was not. He then showed how he had specifically designed large handles into furnishings which gave the orderlies only one place to hold and fewer places that needed thorough cleaning.
Graves' rehabilitation also brought to light other poorly designed hospital features.
"I know who designed this bathroom - experts!" said Graves, referring to observations made during one rehab stint about the poor placement of the sink, inaccurate height of the mirror and the electrical outlet all being out of reach. He found the rooms and amenities to be designed with a painful obliviousness to the needs of patients rehabbing from an injury or suffering from a disability.
Graves' lecture also focused on his design solutions for Stryker Medical, a leading hospital furniture manufacturer, including a collection of hospital patient room furniture that address common hospital problems such as infection control, patient falls and clinician back stress.
CDA's Antimicrobial Copper Program teamed up with Graves because his healthcare design innovations closely parallel their own work and efforts to promote the use of Antimicrobial Copper in healthcare facilities as an infection control practice.
"HAIs can be fought from a materials perspective and a design perspective," said Dr. Harold Michels, Senior Vice President of the Copper Development Association. "That is why we were so excited to hear the buzz around Mr. Graves' discussion among the healthcare leaders after the event. In the years ahead, cutting down on HAIs will and should be the top priority of the healthcare industry, and we need to use all of our resources, both new and old, to help solve this problem."
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About Michael Graves & Associates
Michael Graves & Associates has been in the forefront of architecture and design since AIA Gold Medalist Michael Graves founded his practice in 1964. Today, the practice comprises two firms run by eight principals. Michael Graves & Associates (MGA) provides planning, architecture and interior design services, and Michael Graves Design Group (MGDG) specializes in product design, graphics and branding. MGA has designed many master plans and the architecture and interiors of over 350 buildings worldwide, including hotels and resorts, restaurants, retail stores, civic and cultural projects, office buildings, healthcare, residences and a wide variety of academic facilities. MGDG has designed and brought to market over 2,000 products for clients such as JC Penney, Target, Alessi, Stryker and Disney. Graves and the firms have received over 200 awards for design excellence. With a unique, highly integrated multidisciplinary practice, the Michael Graves Companies offer strategic advantages to clients worldwide. For more information, visit www.michaelgraves.com.
About the Copper Development Association
The Copper Development Association Inc. is the market development, engineering and information services arm of the copper industry, chartered to enhance and expand markets for copper and its alloys in North America.
About Antimicrobial Copper
* Laboratory testing shows that, when cleaned regularly, antimicrobial copper surfaces kill greater than 99.9% of the following bacteria within 2 hours of exposure: MRSA, Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE), Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter aerogenes, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and E. coli O157:H7. Antimicrobial copper surfaces are a supplement to and not a substitute for standard infection control practices and have been shown to reduce microbial contamination, but do not necessarily prevent cross contamination; users must continue to follow all current infection control practices.
EPA approval for public health claims. In the U.S., after many years of research, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has registered more than 350 copper based alloys, such
as brass and bronze, as public health antimicrobial products. Antimicrobial copper is the only class of solid touch surfaces registered by the EPA to continuously kill bacteria that cause infections and pose a risk to human health.
Copper is the active, microbe killing ingredient. Antimicrobial copper isn't just pure copper. It's shorthand for a host of copper based metals (or alloys) that can go head-to-head with stainless steel in terms of strength, durability and aesthetics. In addition to their antimicrobial properties, copper alloys are:
- Durable & recyclable
- Wear-resistant
- Can stand up to harsh environments
- Can retain details and finish over time
- Available in a range of colors