Nashville, TN, August 23, 2010 – In the pursuit of strengthening their use of Evidence-Based Design, Wellness Environments is embarking on a multidisciplinary study of hospital renovations and replacements. Wellness will partner with 7 to 10 hospitals that will each receive anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000 for the administration of these studies. The goal is to analyze future renovations and replacements of Critical Access Hospital Patient Rooms, Operating Rooms and Emergency Departments over the course of two to five years.

With a total investment of $1,500,000 Wellness hopes these studies will strengthen their designs and increase the accumulation of empirical evidence on Wellness Environments’ Clinical Spaces.

Tests could include reimbursement analyses, life-cycle analyses, infection control analyses, time and motion studies, patient and family satisfaction studies, and nurse and doctor recruitment and satisfaction studies.

This clinical research study is limited in the number and type of hospitals to be included. Wellness reserves the right to accept or deny any hospital’s application at its sole discretion.

About Wellness: Wellness Environments began in 1996 in Nashville, TN from the vision of a leading healthcare architect and a world famous physician who believed that patient rooms were becoming too provider-focused. Having spent 8 years in research and development and 6 years in execution, Wellness has created the Wellness Patient Room, the World’s first completely componentized custom patient room package.

The mission of Wellness Environments is to transform rural care through design.

Contact:

Drake Jarman, EDAC, LEED AP

Vice President

drake@WellnessEnvironments.net

Ph: 615-321-5052

This is a Live Encore Performance.

This 30 Minute Free Live Webinar will detail the transformation of a Critical Access Hospital in the Panhandle of Florida from a 1970’s-era Hospital to a modern state-of-the-art Acute Care Facility.

Where is the Money? In a time that was more challenging than ever for CAH’s to finance projects, this hospital braved the market and discovered patient rooms that were designed for CAH’s to be leased. This factor opened a whole new sector of financing for the hospital and they were able to finance the project.

With Patient Rooms that are Classified as Equipment, CMS will reimburse the hospital for 80% of their cost. Armed with this knowledge, the CAH was able to get funding. If Conventional Patient Rooms had been used, the hospital never would have received funding and the project would have never happened.

This Webinar will provide a Blueprint for your hospital to navigate the treacherous waters of a facility replacement or renovation.

Topics that will be specifically discuss are:
Why Renovate/Replace?
Where is the Money
What’s Involved In the Process

By the end of this 30 Minute Free Live Webinar, you will have the knowledge to successfully fund and complete a renovation of your CAH.

Date: Tuesday, August 3rd 2010
Time: 2:00 PM Central Time
Duration: 30 Minutes
Cost: Free

Title: Constructing Opportunity in a Toxic Economy

Date: Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Time: 2:00 PM – 2:30 PM CDT

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP, 2003 Server or 2000

Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/656884915

In the interest of better serving the Critical Access Hospital community, Wellness Environments created a new division called Wellness Financial. Wellness Financial is dedicated to bringing financial sources to hospitals that require renovation, remodeling or new construction needs.

Why?

In these trying economic times, we have seen traditional financial resources vanish. Wellness Financial has connections with multiple financing sources who are lending money today. Let us use our experience and connections to capitalize your project.

What?

Wellness Financial is a financial matchmaking service for which we do not charge. Rather, we find multiple sources to finance your project and you choose the best one for your hospital.

Mission:

The Mission of Wellness Financial is to introduce financing options to Critical Access Hospitals who are hoping to capitalize a renovation or replacement.

Ability:

Wellness Financial has access to a wide range of financial resources. From leasing partners in the $1-2M range, to capital resources of $25M and beyond, Wellness Financial can introduce the appropriate financing option to your hospital.

Our Team:

Our team has helped more than 25 different hospitals through the United States to reach their goals with a ride range of options. Moreover, our experienced team has financed more than $2B in transactions and brings over 75 years of financial experience.

Contact us here for more information.

EDAC was developed to educate and assess individuals on their understanding of how to base healthcare design decisions on credible research evidence and project evaluation results. “We are so pleased that firms like Wellness Environments are demonstrating their commitment to integrating an evidence-based design process into their practices,” says Debra Levin, President and CEO of CHD, “Their efforts to educate their clients about the benefits of design research will result in higher performing buildings that help improve the quality of healthcare overall.”

Wellness Environments is a leader in the healthcare industry known for their expertise in applying evidence-based design techniques into the turnkey patient rooms they design and build. Facilities that incorporate the products, services and patient room design offered by Wellness Environments are focused on Patient-Centered Care, experiencing a multitude of benefits including enhanced clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction, increases in the bottom line through operational advantages, and notable strength in market share. Their unique patient room package can be leased or purchased and is suitable for new construction or renovation.

Wellness is also a new Corporate Affiliate of CHD, showing their full-fledged commitment to improving healthcare design. “The mission of The Center for Health Design exemplifies everything that we at Wellness embody,” says Frank Jarman, CEO of Wellness Environments. “Supporting the calling to create safer, better healing environments by advocating evidence-based design through the EDAC program will help spread the message that design really does have a positive impact on the healing process. After all, healing takes place in the patient room, not in the lobby.” By getting EDAC accredited, Wellness Environments will demonstrate that they understand the importance of evidence-based design.

CHD has been working to improve quality of care, positive outcomes, patient satisfaction and the bottom line in healthcare facilities for over 20 years focusing on the use of evidence-based design. In 2005, CHD began development of the EDAC program with a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Phase I of the program, which focuses on building the accreditation program for healthcare and design professionals, has been supported by a volunteer team of more than 100 individuals with representation across industries including architects, hospital executives, strategic planners, clinicians, researchers and interior designers. Part of the vision for the EDAC program includes a Phase 2 which will focus on developing certification for building projects.

A set of three study guides were published in early 2009 to aid applicants in preparing for the exam. They chronicle the evolution of the practice, trends affecting healthcare delivery systems, research methodologies and practical applications. Study Guide 1 is available at no charge and can be ordered from the EDAC website as a printed copy or pdf download. Study Guides 2 and 3 are available for purchase from the website in printed form. The EDAC examination consists of 110 multiple-choice questions.
Candidates have two hours to complete the exam. The examination covers five sections: evidence-based design for healthcare; research; pre-design; design; and construction and occupancy. To obtain copies of the Study Guides details on testing sites and exam dates, visit www.healthdesign.org/edac.

About The Center for Health Design
The Center for Health Design (CHD), formed in 1993, is a nonprofit research and advocacy organization of forward-thinking healthcare, elder care, design and construction professionals and product manufacturers who are leading the quest to improve the quality of healthcare facilities and create new environments for healthy aging. Its voluntary board of directors guides the work of paid staff that manages and directs the organization’s research, education, outreach and advocacy efforts. For more information, visit www.healthdesign.org

About Wellness Environments:
Wellness Environments, located in Nashville TN, provides design expertise for patient rooms incorporating evidence- based design. They have developed a turnkey patient room that maximizes patient safety and satisfaction while increasing staff, operating and construction efficiency. Wellness Environments has over 500 installations worldwide, including Patient Rooms for Acute Care, Cardiac Units, Emergency Departments, LDRP’s, as well as Operating Theaters and other Clinical Spaces. To learn more, visit www.wellnessenvironments.net

Wellness Environments’ patient room design maximizes patient safety, patient satisfaction, and staff efficiency, while minimizing maintenance and downtime.