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Hospital Design Matters: Looking Back at a Second Successful Workshop

On 25th to 27th June at a local hotel in Kenya, a second Hospital Design Workshop was successfully organized by PharmAccess Foundation.

  • Jul 10, 2019

A dynamic team of local facilitators and international experts led the three-day training: David Pahl from Achelis – Matachana, Marianus De Jager from SharpShop/A3 Architects in South Africa, Arthur Oyugi from Symbion, Robin Manguro from Renaissance PS Architects and Kennedy Okong’o, MCF Director East Africa.

Medical practitioners led by Dr. Abdi Mohammed from the Kenya Association of Private Hospitals (KAPH) participated actively in the workshop by sharing clinical aspects where design plays a significant role towards quality of care. According to Dr. Abdi Mohamed, Chairman of KAPH: ‘’Outpatient & Emergency services are two separate services in a Hospital. Hospital designers need to know the critical difference.’’

Dr. Musau in turn elaborated on the value that strategic hospital design brings by sharing some real-life lessons: ‘’I have made many mistakes that I regret. It costed me money to redo the design. Hospital owners must ensure that they consult widely before they invest in design’’.

Architect C. Wetungu from UON contributed to the learning process by stressing the value that peer review brings: ‘’Part of the project costs should be allocated to peer review. Hospital owners will save millions that go into correcting mistakes that would have been addressed at design stage.’’

Prior to the workshop, the project manager at PharmAccess forged an engagement with the Architectural Association of Kenya (AAK), to recognize and endorse the workshop to be enlisted into 2019 training workshops that can earn the architects CPD points. The Association advertised the workshop on their workshop.