The design team and Alegent Health collaborated to design Lakeside Hospital, a full-service, 79-bed medical facility in Omaha, Nebraska. The concept was to provide a state-of-the-art facility featuring advanced technology within a healing environment in a rural setting. Lakeside Hospital was designed around the Planetree concept of patient-centered care, which involved the use of abundant natural lighting, soft pastel colors, and a spacious and open floor plan designed for easy wayfinding.

Lakeside was designed with a classic brick exterior that complements its rural surroundings. The spacious and open two-floor lobby features one of many large common areas with comfortable seating and fireplaces. The central admissions desk was removed from the lobby, as patients are allowed to register directly at the point of care.

Lakeside’s private patient rooms are designed to be spacious and provide maximum patient and visitor comfort. Every patient room in the facility—from the ER to the ICU—is a private room. The role of family in the healing process was acknowledged by placing sofa beds in most patient rooms for immediate family to stay overnight.

Natural healing elements are abundant in Lakeside’s design. Daylighting is prominent throughout the hospital—from the patient rooms to the operating theaters. Spectacular views of the beautiful hospital surroundings are found nearly everywhere, and stained glass in patient rooms and common areas provide a stress-reducing soft glow. The Planetree colors—soft pastels—are prevalent throughout the rooms and corridors.

The design team took great care to incorporate serene and unique common areas into Lakeside, including a nondenominational chapel and a multilevel healing garden. These areas provide perfect settings for respite, reflection, and relaxation for both patients and visitors.

Complementing Lakeside’s healing design is the state-of-the-art technology provided through a partnership between Lakeside and the Siemens Corporation. The hospital is completely filmless and nearly paperless. Staff uses portable wireless computers for charting, bedside registration, and patient monitoring. Seamlessly incorporating advanced technology into a serene setting required a focused, diligent effort by the design team, the technology partner, and the owner.

Lakeside Hospital has earned a reputation as a true patient-centered healing facility. Patients and visitors have likened a stay at Lakeside to a stay at an extremely customer-service–oriented hotel. Lakeside provides its patients with a full-service facility where people can go to get better, rather than a place where they only go when they’re ill.

Project category: New construction (completed August 2004)

Chief administrator: Cindy Alloway, Chief Operating Officer, VP, (402) 717-8107

Firm: Leo A Daly, (402) 391-8111

Design team: John Andrews, Project Manager; Jim Hageman, Architect; Susan Jorgensen, Structural Engineer; Clive Moore, Mechanical Engineer; Mike Armstrong, Electrical Engineer

Photography: Kessler Photography

Total building area (sq. ft.): 200,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $220

Total construction cost (excluding land): $44,000,000