Hospital design of the future--healing environments.

Predicting the future of hospital design is hardly a consensus forming art. Crystal ball visions of the 21st-century hospital vary from expert to expert. Perhaps that's simply a sign of the diversity of our health care system. Or perhaps it's a problem inherent in reading the future. For example, some hospital architects and facility planners say tomorrow's hospitals will be smaller due to technological advances. Others say those same advances will create larger hospitals brimming with high-tech equipment. Some say hospitals will be part of medical malls; others see them in a campus setting, perhaps accompanied by satellite facilities in the surrounding community. Yet, despite their often diverse views of the future, architects and planners do share common thoughts about hospital architecture in the decades ahead. Without question, they most commonly agree that hospitals will offer a more patient-friendly environment. Achieving that goal could take many forms, but it is expected to include the use of soothing colors, attractive landscaping, natural lighting, wayfinder lobbies and entrances, private rooms, quieter hallways and accommodations for family and friends.