Breaking Out of Jail

University of Kansas Hospital Cancer Center Takes a Personal Design Approach
The University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kans., has opened its new $25-million outpatient cancer center, designed by RTKL Associates Inc. (which since has merged with ARCADIS). The three-story, 138,000-square-foot center adaptively reuses a 1950s-era office building. To meet the overall goal of making patients, their families, and visitors as comfortable as possible, the architects provided a personal, soothing environment, replete with warm earth tones, large windows, private treatment areas with comfortable high-end lounges and changing rooms, light wood finishes, and wall art. Wayfinding is enhanced by siting the center away from the main hospital campus for easy access to the drop-off area. Also to aid in wayfinding, the building itself has a wide, three-level stacked concourse.

GAO Calls for National Disaster Mitigation Strategy
Now more than ever, with climate change concerns and increasing development in vulnerable areas, the federal government needs a disaster mitigation strategy as part of the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s charge, states a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office released in August. FEMA, other federal agencies, and nonfederal stakeholders have collaborated on natural hazard mitigation, but the current approach is fragmented and does not provide a comprehensive national strategic framework for mitigation, according to the report. Specific actions called for—of pre- and post-mitigation efforts—include common mitigation goals; performance measures and reporting requirements; and the roles and responsibilities of federal, state, and local agencies, and nongovernmental stakeholders. Download the full report from the Government Accountability Office Web site.