A one-of-a-kind living laboratory, the Garfield Center is a place where clinicians and team members can engage in innovative, hands-on experiential scenarios—well in advance of their adoption in the patient care environment. The combination of people, place, and process creates a unique environment where human-centered ideas are developed and tested in a safe, mocked-up clinical environment. Located in San Leandro, California, the center is jointly funded by Kaiser Permanente's National Facilities Services, Information Technology, and National Patient Care Services groups and encompasses 37,000 square feet.
Simulated spaces include an entire medical-surgical unit complete with nurse stations, various patient rooms, critical care room, labor and delivery room, operating room, emergency bay, family waiting room, interventional radiology suite, and more. Here, the entire care process can be analyzed, role-played, questioned, tested, and refined under one roof.
In addition, a technology lab ensures products will be tested to their limit. So where do ideas go from here? After initial testing and validation procedures, successful initiatives may undergo additional well-controlled testing in live patient environments at various Kaiser Permanente facilities across the nation.
For more information, please visit the Garfield Innovation Center's Web site.