Healthcare facilities typically require acoustic treatment in some form. Most commonly, hospitals use sound masking systems to improve speech privacy and reduce disturbances for doctors and patients. Certain units in hospitals may also require the use of acoustic panels to reduce excess echo that interferes with doctors treating their patients in group settings.
Related: Sound Masking – Medical & Research Facility
For example, the Behavioral Health Units at HCA Healthcare facility required acoustic treatment to reduce echo in their spaces. At the time of the site visit, one of the units was existing, while the other 2 units requiring treatment were still being renovated.
Healthcare Facility Acoustic Treatment
The Group Dining Rooms, Group Activity Rooms and Corridors all required treatment in each of the 3 Behavioral Health units. Since each of these areas required or encouraged group settings, the echo could get distracting as more people gathered. The dining room was the biggest problem area, since it was the largest room, where the most people would be at the same time.
Once the other 2 behavioral units had their remodel complete, our team came in to install the ceiling mounted acoustic panels. Rather than using our traditional Ekko Eraser fabric wrapped fiberglass panels, the client opted for Compressed Polyester Acoustic Panels (also known as PET Panels). Although PET panels aren’t quite as effective as fabric wrapped fiberglass panels, they were able to significantly reduce the echo in the behavioral units.
Benefits of Acoustic Panels in a Hospital
Our team mounted the MDC Zintra panels directly to the ceiling using construction-grade adhesive. Directly mounting the panels to the ceiling and choosing the color white gave them a more native look, making them less noticeable in general. This was a concern for the client, as they were concerned patients may have tried to jump up to try and remove the panels if they stood out too much or hung down from the ceiling at all.
With the acoustic panels installed, the echo within the Dining Room, Group Activity Room and the Corridor were significantly reduced.
If your healthcare project has reverberation or echo issues, consider Commercial Acoustics’ Ekko Eraser Acoustic Felts or Ekko Eraser Acoustic Panels to reduce your reverb time. In situations where your healthcare projects requires increased speech privacy between patient rooms, consider Commercial Acoustics’ Soundtekk Sound Masking Vektor System.
