Supersized Healthcare: Creating Healing Environments for Obese Patients

Rising obesity has significant clinical, legal, expense-incurring and reimbursement implications for healthcare facilities. When you sign up for this unique and accredited healthcare training, you will learn more about hospital accommodations for obese patients, both in general and in bariatric surgery programs. This session will focus on the definition of obesity, incidence rates and how they are changing, as well as what hospitals are doing to meet the needs of these patients and the staff taking care of them.

Learning Objectives:

• How do you determine the magnitude and the implications of the obesity trend in terms of American health and the cost to our healthcare system?
• What are the steps that healthcare providers are taking in terms of programs, staffing, and equipment in response to the increasing obesity trend?
• What are the important programming and design factors to consider in supporting a hospital bariatric surgery program?
• Sensitive issues require sensitive solutions, when dealing with the physical accommodation of severely obese patients in the healthcare setting. What are some of the solutions healthcare providers are creating?
• Gain knowledge of and access to various resources, including bariatric program support and creation and equipment manufacturers related to accommodating this patient population.

Presented By:

Teri Oelrich
Principal, NBBJ

Teri Oelrich approaches health planning and architecture with a business perspective coupled with a clinical nursing background from a variety of settings, including nursing homes, orthopedics, medical-surgical units, bone marrow transplant, and adult and pediatric intensive care units. Her clinical experience provides a unique perspective for integrating the needs of the client with those of the consultants and architects. Her background includes facility utilization planning, financial feasibility and cost analysis, operations analysis, and program planning with HMOs, universities, hospitals, and freestanding clinics.

Sarah Markovitz
AIA Senior Associate, NBBJ

Who would benefit from this program:

• Facility Managers
• Facility Directors
• Architects
• Designers

Continuing Education:

• This program meets the requirements for CHFM and CHSP Continuing Education Credits.

Length: 1 hour 30 minutes