- To anticipate a possible new pandemic, the Nîmes University Hospital has redesigned the two major projects it had launched before the health crisis began.
- The buildings have thus been revised in particular to be fully modular.
- Mobile units, which could invite themselves in the car parks, have been ordered.
At the height of the Covid-19 epidemic, hospitals had to organize, sometimes improvise, to cope with the influx of patients. Today, as the crisis fades, some wish to take inspiration from this unprecedented health episode to reinvent themselves.
This is the case of the hospital in Nîmes (Gard): the CHU Carémeau, which had started the construction of several buildings well before the coronavirus struck, has readjusted its projects to be more effective, if a new pandemic broke out .
One patient per room
The construction of a new geriatrics and infectious disease building on the campus was thus completely redesigned. The architects worked during the confinement so that this new building would be entirely modular, in the event of a crisis. In the wing of infectious diseases, "the rooms can be split," explains Gérald Berry, architect at the Chabanne agency, who imagined the project. "Part of the geriatrics sector can be assigned to patients affected by Covid-19, or the entire building can go into infectious diseases," explains Gérald Berry.
The routes within the building have also been rewritten, with "a possible distinction between the entrances," continues the architect. The reception areas can be differentiated, so that there is no crossover between the patients. The project has another advantage in the event of a pandemic: there is only one patient per room. "The twin-bedded rooms are a problem, because it is necessary to manage to equip the patients", indicates Nicolas Best, the director general of the CHU of Nîmes, according to if they are reached by the virus and contagious or not. “A single room is a real element of security. "
Ten more beds
In addition, the regrouping of geriatrics and infectious disease units, planned before the crisis, is good: this could be an asset, in the event of a new pandemic, notes the director of the hospital, "the elderly being particularly sensitive" .
The other major site, the elevation of the main building, was also touched up during confinement. Again, everything will be flexible to encourage reorganization in the event of a crisis. The continuous surveillance unit, airlock between conventional care and resuscitation, which receives patients requiring increased vigilance, has thus increased from 30 to 40 beds, scrambling 10 beds in the winter unit, which is only open a few months a year to cope with the influx of sick people when temperatures drop.
Pre-equipped mobile units
These 40 rooms will also have air treatment in "overpressure", but which can be put in "depression" in the event of a pandemic, to prevent the virus from circulating. Otherwise, "when a patient is infected, the virus is spread everywhere," explains Michel Beauvais, the architect at the MBA agency, who designed the new building.
Finally, with other hospitals in France, the CHU of Nîmes launched a call for tenders, to acquire "pre-equipped mobile units", like military field hospitals, which could invite to the car parks if space is lacking in the buildings. "These are modules, a bit like Lego, which fit together, to increase capacities," notes Nicolas Best, director general of the Nîmes hospital and chairman of the architectural commission of the CHU confederation.
Twenty companies have already come forward to manufacture them. These modules could be purchased, or rented by hospitals. In Nîmes, the CHU should buy them, to be ready, without delay, if one day a new pandemic broke out.
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