New Hospital Lacks PatientS

I recently walked through a newly built hospital that was, by every visible measure, impressive. The imaging department was sleek and efficient. The technology was state of the art. The space reflected careful planning and significant investment.

When I asked the team how things were going, the answer surprised me. Volumes were low. Patients were not using the facility the way leaders had expected. Many were traveling to other locations, sometimes much farther away.

When staff asked why, the feedback was consistent. The space felt too modern for the patients they serve. Too unfamiliar. It didn’t feel like it was built for them.

That moment reframed how I think about healthcare design. A space can be beautiful, compliant, and technologically advanced, and still fail the patients it was intended to serve. I must say I hadn’t considered this aspect before – especially through a cultural lens.

Healthcare facilities across the country are investing in modernization. Imaging department design often emphasizes standardization, digital workflows and high-tech aesthetics. These decisions are meant to improve efficiency and safety.

But patients do not experience design through blueprints or equipment specifications. They experience it through culture, memory, stress and trust.

Inclusive healthcare design recognizes that space is never neutral. What feels clean and advanced to leadership may feel cold, overwhelming or unwelcoming to a patient whose past experiences with healthcare involved fear, marginalization or loss of control.

When patient-centered design is missing, people disengage quietly. They delay imaging, miss appointments, or seek care in spaces that feel more familiar, even if those spaces are older or less advanced.

This matters deeply in imaging environments. Imaging requires vulnerability. Patients are asked to undress, lie still, enter enclosed machines and trust staff they may have just met. When the environment feels impersonal or overly technical, anxiety rises.

That anxiety shows up operationally through motion artifacts, incomplete exams, repeat scans, longer appointment times and increased strain on technologists. Stress in imaging is not an abstract concern. It directly affects quality, throughput and outcomes.

Culturally responsive healthcare spaces reduce that stress by building therapeutic trust. Familiar materials, intuitive wayfinding, respectful privacy and visible human presence help patients feel grounded. Trauma-informed and inclusive design choices – such as quieter waiting areas, softened lighting, acoustic control, and spaces that allow family support – give patients a sense of agency at a moment when they have very little.

Standardization alone cannot accomplish this. There is no one-size-fits-all imaging department. Every design choice reflects assumptions about who the patient is and how they should move through care. When those assumptions don’t match the community being served, the space becomes a barrier, even when intentions are good. I saw this first hand and I don’t think the hospital leaders understand how to fix it.

Many leaders are constrained. They inherit buildings, vendor-driven layouts and system-wide design standards. Leadership, however, shows up in the questions we ask. Who might feel uneasy here? Where does efficiency override dignity? Where does technology replace human connection too quickly? How do we invite when our space feels different/unfamiliar?

True modernization is not just about advanced equipment or clean lines. It includes cultural intelligence. It considers how design influences trust, stress and belonging.

A successful imaging department is not defined solely by how it functions. It is defined by whether patients choose to enter it, feel safe within it and return when care is needed.

When inclusive design places patients at the center, new spaces don’t just look modern. They earn trust.

This article begins a series on inclusive healthcare design and how physical and technological spaces influence patient trust, stress and access to care.

Future pieces will explore these dynamics in imaging environments and other clinical settings, with a focus on the lived experience of the patients we serve.•