In a provocative TEDMed talk, hospital architect Robin Guenther challenges the healthcare establishment and calls for “hospitals that restore health.” From vinyl flooring to cleaning chemicals to healthy food to supply chain management, Guenther says that hospitals should rethink their business model.
“How do we transform the 20th century model that focuses on healthcare to one that creates actual health?” Guenther asks. She offers several examples of hospitals that have taken steps to become more person-friendly and more eco-friendly– from providing organic foods in their cafeterias to eliminating harmful vinyl flooring to buying locally to support the community.
“It’s not the money that prevents this”–other hospitals making healthy and environmentally conscious decisions, Guenther says. “It’ mindset. Many of these solutions are cost neutral… Sometimes we don’t see the harm– like with the vinyl flooring– and sometimes it’s just more comfortable to continue to design and operate the ways we always have.
“We can say ‘no’ to antibiotics in the food, vinyl in the buildings, and green house gases.”
