Navigating through a hospital is never fun. With hallways and corridors everywhere you look it can make your head spin in an already stressful environment. At North Coast Signs, we specialize in designing and implementing custom wayfinding solutions for healthcare facilities.
Overview of Custom Directional Signs
Effective wayfinding systems are essential for hospitals to ensure that patients, visitors, and staff can find their way around easily. They include many signs installed in various locations around the complex, including arrows at intersections, names and numbers for rooms, and directories.
How to Design a Wayfinding System for Your Hospital
We help every step of the way in creating an effective wayfinding system for a hospital. However, if you want to know how to begin on your own or want a quick look at our process, here’s a quick guide:
- Assessment and Planning: An important first step is an assessment of the hospital’s layout. Note important areas like entrances, exits, emergency rooms, departments, and patient rooms.
- Collaborative Design: One key to creating a fluid wayfinding system is to speak with people who are there every day. Collaborate with hospital administration, staff, and patient representatives to understand their needs and experiences. Design signs to meet ADA standards. This included clear, universal symbols, Braille, and text to ensure accessibility for those with visual impairments or language barriers.
- Material and Style Selection: Choose materials that are durable, easy to clean, and suitable for a healthcare environment. Options include laminated signs for easy disinfection and non-porous materials that resist bacteria.
- Strategic Placement: Place signs at decision points where visitors need to make a turn or choose a path, like entrances, hallways, intersections, elevators, and staircases. They are mounted at eye level and well-lit, avoiding placement near doors or other elements that might make them hard to see.
- Incorporate Digital Solutions: Consider integrating digital displays for real-time information, such as departmental directions, visiting hours, and emergency announcements. Provide interactive kiosks at main entrances where visitors can easily search for destinations and receive maps or directions.
- Implement a Color-Coding System: Use color-coding to differentiate between departments or wings. This makes it easy to identify locations and destinations quickly. Adding the color-coding system on all directional signs, maps, and digital displays helps with consistency.
We are Your Partner in Healthcare Navigation
For any hospitals in the San Marcos, CA area looking to improve navigation and enhance the visitor experience, North Coast Signs is your go-to partner.
Reach out to North Coast Signs today. We are located in Vista off Sycamore Ave, just two miles from the 78.
