DATE: November 28, 2007

CONTACT: David Allison, (864) 656-3897
adavid@clemson.edu

WRITER: Ross Norton, (864) 656-4810
rnorton@clemson.edu

Center to attract national researchers in health design

CLEMSON — South Carolina could become the destination for researchers seeking to learn more about how architecture, industrial design and engineering can impact health care and healing. The state can reap significant economic benefits from the development of a focus in health-care design with the state funding for a Center of Economic Excellence (CoEE) in Health Facilities Design and Testing.

The center is a collaboration among Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina and the University of South Carolina, with Spartanburg Regional Health System (SRHS) and Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC) contributing as major non-state matching partners. As part of the center, the CoEE Review Board also approved two endowed chairs, one at Clemson and one at MUSC, and associated prototyping design, fabrication and testing facilities. Plans ultimately include building two prototyping labs in the state, one in Spartanburg on SRHS’s Pelham campus and one in Charleston at MUSC.

The Clemson chair will support an endowed professor in architecture and health research. The MUSC chair will be in human factors and clinical practice research. Proceeds from the South Carolina Education Lottery will provide $5 million in funds for the center and its two initial chairs. Each of the two universities and SRHS have collectively pledged through HSSC to commit $5 million in matching funds toward this CoEE, including gifts in-kind.

The Center for Health Facilities Design and Testing will conduct design-research projects using experts from a variety of disciplines, from architecture and psychology to materials sciences and computer science at Clemson along with clinical researchers at MUSC and indoor environmental health researchers at USC.

“As our nation’s aging hospitals are replaced, it’s crucial that we incorporate the best information that we have into the design of new health-care environments,” said David J. Allison, Clemson architecture professor and director of the project. “We know the built environment matters in health care. It can contribute to shorter hospital stays, improved outcomes and patient safety and better delivery of care. With this center, we will build a storehouse of knowledge on the best practices in health-care facilities design.”

Until now, most research in hospital design has been retrospective, according to Allison. The center will encourage the development of new research and evidence-based designs.

Allison sees the center and its labs as a destination for researchers and designers from across the country — and internationally — who will collaborate with researchers in the state and use the facilities for design-research projects, much the way astronomers visit observatories to conduct their research. The labs will provide a platform for collaborative educational, research and public-service initiatives that will help advance the state of-the-art in health-care design.

Researchers will design, fabricate and evaluate prototype patient care and treatment settings. Feedback from simulation testing of prototypes in the laboratory will be used to revise initial designs. Revised prototypes then will be evaluated in working clinical settings within HSSC member hospitals in the state. Final prototypes and design concepts will be incorporated into new facilities built throughout South Carolina and across the country.

“The process will add scientific rigor to the design of health-care facilities,” Allison said.

Clemson University has long been a leader in architecture related to health facilities. Allison is director of the Architecture + Health program, one of only two graduate-level professional degree programs nationally with a concentration in this area of practice.

The expansion of design, prototype, fabrication and research activities at the prototype labs and associated sites will create new jobs for research scholars, assistants, technicians and support staff and also will increase business travel to the state by design professionals, visiting researchers and others. In addition, new products that result from the research and expansion of manufacturing and distribution of existing companies are expected as an economic benefit, according to Chris Przirembel, Clemson University vice president for research and economic development.

“It is also important to note that the long-term benefits of what these initiatives will accomplish – the positive impact on the health and well-being of the citizens of South Carolina and others beyond the state – will also have a positive economic impact,” Przirembel  said.

The very nature of hospitals and how care is delivered has changed dramatically over the last two decades, creating opportunities for the new CoEE, according to HSSC President Jay Moskowitz.

“The time has come to rethink modern hospital design to accommodate our aging population, the shift from inpatient to outpatient procedures and ongoing challenges like infection control. The proactive research that will be undertaken by Clemson, MUSC, USC and SRHS has the potential of establishing South Carolina as the leader in an emerging field that will redefine hospital design, transform the delivery of health-care services and spur economic growth,” Moskowitz said.

About CoEE

The S.C. Centers of Economic Excellence program (commonly known as the Endowed Chairs program), was established by the South Carolina General Assembly in 2002. The legislation authorizes the state's three public research institutions, Clemson, MUSC and USC, to use S.C. Education Lottery funds to create centers of excellence in research areas that will advance South Carolina's economy. The state funds must be matched dollar-for-dollar with non-state funds to be used. The program also provides funding for CoEE Endowed Chairs, world-renowned scientists who lead the centers of excellence. By investing in talent and technology, the CoEE program is designed to help fuel South Carolina's knowledge economy, resulting in higher-paying jobs, a stronger economy and an improved standard of living.

About HSSC

In April 2004, the leaders of two of South Carolina’s largest health-care systems and two of the state’s research universities came together to announce the formation of Health Sciences South Carolina (HSSC), a unique public-private partnership with a shared vision and a shared plan. Today, Health Sciences South Carolina is a dynamic statewide entity that includes Clemson University, Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center, Palmetto Health, the Medical University of South Carolina, University of South Carolina and Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System. Already the collaborative is affecting change and achieving results necessary to transform the state’s economy and health status.