A new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report, Report of the Task Group for Innovative 21st Century Building Environments for VA Healthcare Delivery, prepared by the National Institute of Building Sciences, could help the federal agency move its healthcare facilities into the 21st century.
The task group concludes, “VA is in a position to transform and lead healthcare delivery into a completely new and revolutionary force within our society.”
In 2008, VA asked the National Institute of Building Sciences to coordinate its exploration for a new paradigm to provide a new generation of high-performance, sustainable healthcare environments for the changing population of veterans. The institute convened a multi-disciplinary task group to investigate and document state-of-the-art practices for high-performance, sustainable, and flexible environments for healing.
Composed of more than 25 architects, engineers, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, and other renowned experts in the healthcare industry, the task group worked with a VA advisory group that provided data and information on the current practices of VA operations and facilities.
The task group developed five principal conclusions with supporting recommendations applicable to transforming new and renovated healthcare facilities. If implemented, these recommendations would provide VA with a model that’s paramount to the future success of veteran healthcare delivery and without precedent in the U.S. healthcare industry.
To download the report read the recommendations, visit www.nibs.org/VA21stcenturyreport.html.