Our practice room is located in the Zwaansvliet Medical Center in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert. The building in which the center is housed was initially used as a (district) office, after which it stood empty for a long time. In 2013, GP Mackay took over Huisartsenpraktijk Soetendaal and started investigating the possibilities for a medical center. General practice Nunes Vaz was interested and other motivated care providers were found. Late – but fortunately not too late – we involved an LHV architect in our plans. After a lengthy process due to problems with environmental permits, our practice was completed in July 2017. The GP practices have merged under the name Huisartsenpraktijk Zwaansvliet.
Our general practice is located on the ground floor together with the pharmacy, the laboratory and the physiotherapists; As a general practitioner, we work closely with these care providers. Elsewhere in the Zwaansvliet Medical Center, other care providers important to us are housed: home care, psychologists, cardiology, dermatology, dentist, podiatrists and skin therapy.
We like to connect with patients when they enter the practice; give the patient the feeling that there is a point of contact. The counter is therefore arranged in such a way that the patient and the front office assistant can see each other directly. The desk has three workstations, so that assistants from the back office can assist when it is busy.
One of our practice managers and a physiotherapist are specialized in interior styles and, together with an interior architect, have given atmosphere to our entrance and waiting area. We think it is important that it is quiet in our waiting area. We have used sustainable, natural materials such as wood and bamboo, natural colours, plants and there is no music. A photo exhibition by a talented nature photographer can be seen on the walls.
The general practitioners, physiotherapy and laboratory each have their own waiting room, so that there are never too many people in a room. In addition, our practice organization is set up in such a way that patients wait as short as possible. All this contributes to the peaceful atmosphere.
We have a clear separation of the entrance, front office and waiting area with the consultation rooms, which creates an enormous peace of mind in the consultation rooms. In the back office there are sit-stand desks and there is a separate place for the day assistant. This assistant is the first point of contact for the front office and the doctors. The consultation room of the day doctor is located next to the back office; this doctor is the first point of contact for the assistants. In this way the other doctors and assistants can do their work undisturbed.
We have opted for calm, soft colors in the corridors and consultation rooms. The consulting rooms are spacious, are located on the outside of the building and have many windows, providing nice light. The areas where we stay for shorter periods, such as the treatment room and the laboratory, are located in the windowless interior of the building.
By thinking carefully about functionality, style and furnishing within the atmosphere we wanted to create and involving the right parties, we now have a practice space where both patients and employees feel very comfortable!