3 Ways Healthcare Facilities Can Better Support Caregivers
As workforce shortages continue to challenge healthcare organizations, facility design is becoming an increasingly important tool for supporting retention, safety, and caregiver performance.
Updated: 9/11/2026
Contributors: Bryan Gingerich, Kindra Scobba
Read Time: 3 minutes
Article Summary:
Healthcare organizations are facing persistent workforce challenges that are affecting capacity, care delivery, and long-term growth. While no facility can solve staffing shortages alone, thoughtful workplace design can help support retention, reduce burnout, improve safety, and create environments where caregivers can perform at their best. As a result, health systems are increasingly considering how staff spaces can support their broader workforce strategies.
Key Takeaways
- Staff spaces can support retention, workforce wellbeing, and caregiver experience amid ongoing staffing challenges.
- Investments in staff environments are increasingly focused on restoration, safety, and daily operational realities.
- Physical and psychological safety considerations are expanding beyond acute-care settings into outpatient environments.
- Small design decisions can improve caregiver comfort, workflow, and operational performance.
Why Staff Spaces Matter More Than Ever
Healthcare organizations are being asked to do more with fewer resources. Staffing shortages continue to affect patient access, capacity, and operational performance, while competition for experienced clinicians remains intense. Retaining and supporting caregivers has become just as important as recruiting them, prompting organizations to consider how the workplace itself can support their workforce.
Recent healthcare workforce research from The Conference Board, a global nonprofit business research organization, underscores the scale of the challenge:
- More than 700,000 healthcare jobs are open each month, while only 306,000 unemployed healthcare workers are available to fill them.
- 50% of healthcare executives report that workforce shortages have reduced patient capacity.
- 76% of clinicians say staffing shortages negatively affect quality of care.
That backdrop, the built environment is one component of a broader workforce strategy. While compensation, culture, and career development remain critical, physical spaces can influence workplace satisfaction, retention, and how effectively caregivers perform their jobs.
1. Prioritize Spaces for Rest, Reset, and Recovery
One visible shift in healthcare facility planning is the growing emphasis and investment in staff lounges and respite spaces. As organizations compete for talent in a constrained labor market, these areas are becoming a more intentional part of facility planning.
According to Kindra Scobba, Mortenson Project Manager, "staff lounges have gotten priority window views on the last two outpatient facilities I’ve worked on, and health system leaders are open about protecting a slightly higher budget for those rooms." She has also seen organizations invest in upgraded finishes and lighting that create a more restorative environment for caregivers.
How health systems are applying this:
- Protect natural light and window views for staff areas when possible.
- Budget intentionally for durable, comfortable finishes in staff lounges.
- Repurpose underused space into a quiet refuge or decompression area for staff.
- Consider lighting quality, acoustic separation, and outdoor access as part of workforce support planning.
2. Design for Staff Safety and Security
Staff well-being is also about feeling physically safe. Ergonomics remain important, especially in spaces where staff lift, transfer, bend, stand, document, and move equipment throughout long shifts. That includes designing rooms that can accommodate lift equipment, lateral transfer devices, repositioning equipment, adjustable workstations, and staff pathways that reduce strain.
Safety conversations, however, are expanding beyond ergonomics. According to Bryan Gingerich, Mortenson Project Executive, a growing trend is bringing security stakeholders into facility planning earlier, resulting in greater focus on access control, duress systems, refuge spaces, and staff safety measures across both hospital and outpatient environments.
Bringing security, operations, clinical, and design teams together early helps ensure safety measures are integrated into the facility rather than added later as reactive solutions.
How health systems are applying this:
- Coordinating with security stakeholders early in design.
- Reviewing reception and check-in areas for visibility, access control, staff egress, and refuge needs.
- Planning for duress buttons or other response tools where appropriate, including outpatient and clinic settings.
- Connecting ergonomic decisions to workflow, equipment movement, and patient transfer needs.
3. Create Clinical Spaces That Work Better for Staff
Supporting caregivers extends beyond lounges and break rooms. As healthcare organizations look to maximize capacity while navigating workforce challenges, many systems are taking a closer look at how space design affects provider movement, visibility, and care delivery.
One large health system recently partnered with Mortenson to evaluate and standardize its clinical pod layouts across multiple facilities. The goal was to create a more consistent and efficient environment for providers and staff. By modeling different layout options early in planning, the team identified opportunities to improve workflows, reduce caregiver travel distances, and create additional capacity within the existing footprint.
The effort highlights an important shift in healthcare planning. Rather than defaulting to more space, organizations are increasingly looking at how design can help existing space function more efficiently for caregivers and patients alike.
How health systems are applying this:
- Standardizing clinical layouts to create a more consistent experience for staff across locations.
- Using workflow modeling to test design decisions before construction begins.
- Looking for opportunities to improve efficiency and support future growth within existing footprints.
- Evaluating facilities through both an operational and caregiver lens.
Planning Facilities Around People
Healthcare organizations are rethinking how their facilities support caregivers, improve workflows, and adapt to evolving workforce needs. Learn how thoughtful facility planning can help create spaces that work better for staff and patients alike.
Frequently Asked Questions
Many organizations are looking for ways to improve retention, reduce burnout, support safety, and strengthen the day-to-day caregiver experience amid ongoing workforce challenges.
Organizations are investing in more restorative staff lounges, enhanced security measures, greater access to natural light, and layouts that support caregiver comfort and workflow.
While design alone cannot solve workforce challenges, environments that support wellbeing, safety, and operational efficiency can contribute to a better employee experience.