PHOTO TOUR: Fort Worth Adolescent And Young Adult Oncology Coalition Unit
Photography provided by HKS Inc./Daryl Shields
The Cocoon Room is a dedicated space for patients to retreat to when they want to get out of their rooms and away from the common area. It will also enable a dedicated space for patient and family counseling, yoga and meditation, reading, or other therapeutic activities. A wall of built-in bookshelves will also allow the center staff to add different kinds of books for patients to sit and read at their leisure.
Photography provided by HKS Inc./Daryl Shields
A living room with comfortable furniture for relaxing is designed to welcome patient’s family and friends. The unit helps patients be at ease because they know their family and friends are taken care of when they are here. In the AYA unit, patients aren’t just a number; they are a member of a community.
Photography provided by HKS Inc./Daryl Shields
The common area includes a big-screen TV for events like movie nights and video game consoles for AYAs to pass the time or play online with their friends back home. A community craft table and coffee bar facilitate group activities, conversations, hobbies, and more.
Photography provided by HKS Inc./Daryl Shields
Foosball and bumper pool tables keep AYAs active, engaged, and entertained.
Photography provided by HKS Inc./Daryl Shields
The FWAYAOC unit features four single inpatient rooms with large in-suite bathrooms and Murphy bed sleeping accommodations for family members and/or friends. Additionally, two flex rooms can accommodate four infusion chairs for daytime use or become two additional inpatient rooms, as census requires.
Photography provided by HKS Inc./Daryl Shields
Large patient bathrooms were designed to provide patients with extra space, storage, and privacy. Each bathroom has large walk-in showers and hospitality finishes, which include extra storage for personal bathroom items that may be needed for longer stays. The extra storage was also purposefully designed to store the personal belongings of a patient’s family members and/or friends.
Photography provided by HKS Inc./Daryl Shields
Family members and visitors are allowed 24-hour visitation. Families also have access to a family room on the same floor of the hospital, which includes a private restroom with a shower, a washer and dryer, a kitchen area with a refrigerator and microwave, a desktop computer with internet access, a TV, and comfortable seating.
The Fort Worth Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Oncology Coalition Unit at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center—Fort Worth is bridging a gap in cancer care for young adults. Opened in June, the facility cares for patients ages 18 to 29, making it the first AYA oncology inpatient unit within an adult healthcare facility in the U.S.
HKS Inc. Dallas/Fort Worth, and Edwards + Mulhausen, Austin, worked with the Fort Worth Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology Coalition (FWAYAOC) to design this one-of-a-kind space. “We needed to address the needs of young adult patients—patients in between the care of pediatrics and adult cancer facilities,” says Dr. Karen Albritton, FWAYAOC’s chairperson. “Our goal was to provide a place that closely matches AYA environments outside of a hospital setting so that young adults feel comfortable, acknowledged and supported during their cancer treatment … We want them to see, feel and think about cancer differently.”
The design team led a visioning process that started with a blank slate, unconfined by preconceived notions of what a traditional cancer unit looks like. “This whole place started as a thought, to a virtual plan, and then to a reality,” says Paula Fultz, FWAYAOC’s vice-chair.
FWAYAOC members as well as patients, family, and community members were involved in the process, which ultimately led to an open, modern design defined by an array of colors, textures, and depths—all while remaining warm and welcoming. There are spaces in the unit where patients can go to be contemplative and quiet. If patients want to socialize, they can gather with family members and friends in the living room to watch TV and play video or board games.
“The center makes me feel like I am at home—not in a hospital,” says Sergio Nava, a young adult patient at the FWAYAOC unit. “More importantly, it’s a place where I can spend quality time with my family. Instead of focusing on my cancer diagnosis, my kids and I can hang out in the lounge and play games or work on puzzles. There are a lot of things we can do together. I feel blessed to be able to receive treatment at a place like this.”
Other features include deep, built-in seating throughout and an “encouragement wall,” where patients can write meaningful messages of support. “Providing a comfortable, functional space for patients to hang out with friends or their family members was an important priority during our design process,” says Corrine Kipp, senior interior designer at HKS. “We also wanted the space to be inspiring.”
The project was especially important to Evelyn Reyers, associate principal at HKS and a cancer survivor. “I understand the many emotions associated with this disease,” Reyers says. “My objective was to make sure HKS—working with the talented and dedicated coalition—designed this center to be uplifting, inspiring and supportive. It makes me proud to hear stories about how the center is making dramatic changes in cancer center patients and their families’ lives.”
