St. Joseph’s Hospital began a master plan to re-design its Paterson, NJ campus, including an entrance lobby that connects its 729-bed Tertiary Medical Center to its 120-bed full-service Children’s Hospital and a Critical Care Tower that includes OR’s, ICU’s and an emergency department. The Level One Regional Trauma Center is designed with separate pediatric, geriatric and adult emergency departments, including trauma, fast-track, triage rooms and treatment bays. The geriatric unit design is tailored to the needs of older patients, making their stay more comfortable by minimizing the discomforts of excessive sound and light. In the halls of the emergency department, overhead lights are kept low, while a color-changing LED light cove along the walls helps to calm patients. Exam light fixtures offer three levels of brightness, and special ceilings in treatment rooms dampen sounds. The geriatric emergency department is located so that through traffic and associated noise are minimal.
