By Lilian Fu and Brad Nelson, Contributing Writers

Hospitals never sleep, which means lighting is a constant challenge requiring innovative solutions. When exceptionally designed and executed, lighting can enhance healing, comfort visitors and promote staff well-being. 

For healthcare facilities managers a bit in the dark when it comes to lighting in their facilities, five trends can outline the possibilities. 

Redefining the patient experience 

With patient satisfaction, talent retention and brand differentiation becoming increasingly important, more healthcare facilities are taking cues from the hospitality industry. Functional and aesthetic lighting can attract patients and staff alike with spaces that feel like high-end hotels. 

Wowing patients was a key consideration when designing the patient suites for the Maternity Care and Birthing Center at Hoag in California. The goal was to create a safe, comfortable and supportive environment for expectant mothers and their families. The design promoted a soothing atmosphere with asymmetric linear wall-wash lights that provided soft, atmospheric patient bed lighting from both sides. 

Given the needs of medical staff during childbirth, designers strategically positioned brighter task lighting toward the foot of the bed, ensuring healthcare professionals had optimal visibility without compromising the patient experience. 

Circadian lighting: A timely conversation 

Even more than form, functionality is essential in healthcare lighting. Yet that doesn’t mean bright lights everywhere all the time. In fact, it is essential to consider the impact of artificial light on the body’s natural rhythms. Research backed by NASA lighting scientists found that specific wavelengths of light at specific times help synchronize a person’s biological rhythms such as sleep-wake cycles with environmental cues, notably the light-dark cycle of day and night. 

This so-called circadian entrainment can promote physical and mental health for patients and staff. Traditional hospital lighting can be unnatural and disrupt internal clocks, so managers can consider these lighting design issues that are sensitive to the circadian rhythms: 

Natural light is best. Embrace light harvesting, an increasingly popular lighting trend in healthcare, by implementing technology to ensure fixtures adjust in response to available sunlight. In many cases, standard patient rooms already benefit from external windows, but warm dimming light can provide a circadian boost as the sun moves. 

Use electric light that emulates natural light. Although replicating daylight can be complex, skilled lighting designers can achieve effects that do not come off as unnatural or distracting via the latest technology. Versatile lighting also can help healthcare professionals meet diverse patient needs. 

For example, for patients with darker skin tones, old fluorescent lighting might make it difficult to detect symptoms such as bruising or cyanosis. Natural lighting and modern LED sources with high color-rendering capabilities improve visibility and accuracy in diagnosis and assessment, promoting health equity for people, regardless of skin tone. 

Consider the perspective of staff, patients and others. Can phlebotomists conduct early morning blood draws without turning on bright overhead lights? Does bed positioning mean bright hallway lights or exit signs shine in a patient’s eyes at night? How does light affect the internal clocks of staff, particularly those working night shifts? These 24-hour-cycle considerations and others can easily go unnoticed, underscoring the importance of thoughtful lighting design. 

Lighting to meet diverse needs 

Another trend gaining traction in healthcare design is dynamic lighting, also known as tunable, decorative or color-changing lighting. This approach goes beyond “on or off” to address challenges such as mood-enhancing spaces and promoting calm in particularly stressful conditions. For example, in children’s hospitals, playful dynamic lighting can make sterile environments more welcoming to young patients. 

For example, to help enhance the recovery process of patients at the Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, Washington, designers implemented lighting systems for the play space and teen room that allows visitors to select the room’s lighting colors themselves. By choosing from a rainbow of options, children receiving treatment can take a break from their medical routines through an unexpected experience. In the imaging department, this same technique helps to ease the stress and anxiety of the unknown by allowing patients to light the room in their favorite color during a procedure. 

Health of people and planet 

Sustainability is another growing concern in healthcare settings as the sector wrestles with the link between human and environmental health. While it is rarely possible to reduce the amount of electricity needed to power critical and lifesaving medical devices, innovative lighting technology and thoughtful design can allow medical facilities to implement more efficient and sustainable lighting schemes. 

At Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, the strategic implementation of high-efficacy luminaires and smart controls resulted in lighting that exceeds state energy code requirements by 20 percent. This result not only decreased the hospital’s energy consumption and reduced cost but also reduced the heat load on the building, easing the burden on the mechanical system. 

Bridging disciplines: An integrated approach 

Traditionally, healthcare has experienced a disconnect among various design and construction disciplines. In some spaces such as operating rooms, lighting is well considered, but in other areas, lighting has been an afterthought, handled purely as a technical question for electrical engineers. As a result, many older facilities have the institutional equivalent of so-called builder basic lighting systems. 

While electrical engineers remain an important part of the overall team, there is a growing recognition of the benefits of lighting and the value lighting designers offer, including insights into new product options, cost-effective strategies and the ability to craft spaces that meet specific performance objectives. 

Stakeholders including architects, interior designers and owners are engaging lighting designers from the start of a project. The project delivery method also can play an important role. Integrated project delivery (IPD) is emerging as a favored approach to promote collaboration and align project goals and organizational goals from the outset. By involving all parties early, IPD advances the seamless integration of lighting design with the project vision, resulting in higher-performing, higher value-driven outcomes. 

As the healthcare sector evolves, lighting design will, too. To remain future-ready, healthcare facilities managers should continue to explore the way emerging technologies like artificial intelligence might influence facility design and management, including lighting and lighting control systems. By embracing innovation, adaptability and ongoing education, healthcare facilities managers and lighting designers can illuminate a path toward a brighter, healthier tomorrow. 

Lilian Fu is senior vice president and lighting design, national practice Lead with WSP, an engineering, environment and professional services firm. Brad Nelson is vice president and Orange County lighting design lead with WSP.