A fresh concept for wellness

By Isabel Berenguer Asuncion

LAST WEEK, hundreds of guests trooped over to Bonifacio Global City to attend the inauguration of the new St Luke’s Hospital. And well attended it was. Despite the large lobby and wide hallways, the main floor was filled to the fringes. The inauguration was highlighted by the “tours” around the hospital premises by its friendly and proficient staff of nurses, technicians and doctors, showcasing in-patient suites, laboratories, clinics and state-of-the-art equipment that by far, only this hospital can boast of having. World-class indeed.

This now all the more makes me a proud patient of the hospital, having given birth to all my three children in their original Quezon City facility, the same one where my father goes for all his medical needs as well.

The Global City premises though, surpass that of Quezon City several fold. In many ways, its sheer size alone has allowed it to provide for many other services and amenities. Its large lobby has a café on the ground floor and a piano lounge on its second floor. Its hallways, though simple and streamlined, are colored in uplifting palettes and are brightly lit.

It is the only hospital in the country with a separate emergency room for pediatric cases. And hanging on its walls are original artworks by Filipino artists which include a beautiful depiction of the medical field by Jon Santos at the main reception lobby, and a Bencab and Ramon Orlina at the Medical Arts Building lobby, and photos by Wig Tysmans at the suite floor.

Wellness Center

One of the many other things this hospital can boast of is their Wellness Center on the seventh floor. Responding to the call for better health services for the baby boom generation, the new wellness facility is a one-stop shop for executive checkups (or any individual checkup or test, for that matter). Traditionally, patients going in for checkups stay the day or are taken in for overnight preparations and procedures, and are wheeled around to various laboratories.

This Wellness Center integrates all these activities into a 3,000-square-meter space, reducing not only the need to travel through hospital floors, but reducing waiting time as well. Moreover, this facility breaks away from the conventions of healthcare institutions and introduces a modern welcoming and comforting “hotel-ish” environment. We are quite proud of having designed it, with the hospital proponents supportive of the innovations introduced.

Save for the diagnostic areas and laboratories, the Wellness Center is quite unlike what most hospital facilities have to offer. For one, it welcomes guests with a large lounge that is fitted out with the offerings of an airline lounge and the esthetics of a spa-like environment. And because it is situated along the building perimeter, it is bathed in the warmth and brightness of natural light.

To add to this feel of airiness are the high ceilings and large openings quite uncommon to healthcare facilities. Inside, it does away with harsh cool white lighting in all its hallways and public spaces, and instead uses warm lighting for a less clinical and more comforting environment.

While wallwashers are used to highlight artwork (which aren’t there yet, and thus my curiosity is piqued, considering what’s already hanging on the other walls of the hospital) cove lights slice along the hallway ceilings and set a sight line for direction and movement. Even the guest toilet and bathroom facilities, though fitted with cove lights, make the most of natural light by having full-smoked windows. Pocket gardens within the facility bring the outdoors into the interior corridors, and soften the very linear architecture of the spaces.

Infection control

Despite the not very hospital-like environment that will cater largely to people who are going for routine preventive healthcare, St. Luke’s didn’t throw caution to the wind. Infection control was a paramount concern in this wellness center. Vinyl floor sheets were carefully selected as to not harbor germs and bacteria, fabrics were shunned due to their habit of holding on to dirt. Because it had to adhere to local government and international standards for healthcare, hallways were designed to meet specific clearances and handrails and bumpers were integrated into the walls.

Fortunately, because corner guards and bumper rails were carefully selected to match wall colors, the walls are clean and do not appear to be full of patchy wall band-aid. The stainless steel finishes in the form of handrails and wall skirtings give the place quite an edgy look. When combined with the very earthy taupes and greys that dominate the walls and the wood finishes for the doors and cabinetry, one tends to forget stainless steel’s association with surgical hospital tools all together. For auditory comfort, the ceilings in all areas are partially done in acoustic tiles, cleverly installed without runners or frames, looking sleek and smart and so unlike acoustic tiles.

My last blood chemistry test showed very good results, but if ever I will need to go for my checkups, this wellness haven will have me, for sentimental and practical reasons, and mostly because I won’t feel like I’m going for my checkup.