Healthcare Flooring 101: Hospitals and Medical Offices/Centers

Medical facilities — be it hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, dentist and doctor’s offices, clinics, or assisted living facilities — all require one important thing: quality healthcare flooring. Patients deserve healthcare flooring that is aesthetically pleasing, yet hygienic, and healthcare facilities deserve flooring that is durable enough to withstand constant foot traffic and is easy to maintain on a daily basis. This is why choice of flooring is so crucial.

One of the most versatile healthcare flooring solutions available today is vinyl. Here’s what you should know when selecting flooring for the healthcare industry.

Hospitals

Hospitals are unlike any other facility in the healthcare field, as they are open 24 hours a day with people always around. Because of this, the flooring chosen for a hospital should be durable, easy to maintain and aesthetically pleasing.

The hospital flooring selected also needs to be easy to install and repair. Parterre luxury vinyl is naturally scratch and scuff resistant, though if ever needed, repairing or replacing tile-by-tile is easy. And while a lot of healthcare facilities opt for carpet in common areas, the truth is that vinyl tile or plank is much easier in terms of upkeep. Luxury vinyl tile and plank also offer a range of design options.

Some areas in hospitals to consider LVT for include common areas like corridors, cafeterias, lobbies, and waitings rooms, as well as office spaces and even exam rooms.

• Luxury Vinyl Plank

Two plank collections, Vertu Luxury Vinyl Plank and InGrained Resilient Plank have a variety of wood plank flooring designs for healthcare. Sunlight Walnut and Moonlit Linear Oak from Vertu showcase a contemporary wood feel and provide a comforting environment to patients, whereas Laurel Cherry from InGrained brings comfort through a more traditional wood look.

• Luxury Vinyl Tile

Another way to create an inviting environment is with luxury vinyl tile. Products from the Fused Luxury Vinyl Tile collection offer stone looks that can warm up a room with colors like Terminal Graybar or Gridlock Calm.

Medical Offices

The flooring needs for medical offices, like dentist and physician’s offices, or medical centers/facilities are very similar to the needs in hospital environments. Though medical offices are not necessarily open 24 hours a day nor do they have as much foot traffic, durability is still important, as well as having hygienic and easy-to-maintain floors. The easy maintenance and design options of luxury vinyl tile and plank are ideal for medical offices.

• Luxury Vinyl Plank

Patients often experience some level of anxiety while at the doctor or dentist, but sometimes a welcoming patient or waiting room can help alleviate that feeling. Luxury vinyl plank options — like Lancaster Weathered flooring from the Ingrained Resilient Plank collection — offer a distinct wood look that is more reminiscent of home than healthcare, which can help patients feel more at ease. Using luxury vinyl plank is becoming more popular in healthcare for that reason.

• Luxury Vinyl Tile

Luxury vinyl tile is also a popular choice for healthcare flooring. As mentioned earlier, the Fused collection works well in healthcare, but the HardCore Luxury Vinyl Tile collection also has some noteworthy options. The use of Metallon Molten Steel from HardCore in the exam room below is a surprising yet ideal choice. It is ideal mainly because it doesn’t even look like an exam room, which in turn can help patients feel more relaxed.

To learn more about which flooring products work best for your healthcare project, contact us.