Challenges of the next generation hospitals: Rethinking the Emergency Department

The COVID 19 outbreak dramatically highlighted the inadequacy of the Emergency Department (ED) settings in dealing with events that can acutely affect a wide range of population. The immediate urgency to create strictly distinct pathways became also a strategic aspect for reducing possible sources of contagion inside the hospital.1 This need has often clashed with inadequate structural conditions of the hospital: in fact, the rigidity of many EDs is due to the hospital typology and its localization (affected by functional program);2,3 and it prevents them from being quickly adapted to new needs in the case of maxi-emergencies.4 In several recent international projects, the presence of a multifunctional space and/or a buffer area guarantees different scenarios in relation to the healthcare/emergency needs.5 [...]