Where healing meets hospitality: A new model for wellness

Where healing meets hospitality: A new model for wellness

Ron Lustig, AIA, NCARB, ISHC, EDAC, LEED® Green Associate
Sam Burnette, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, NCARB

In healthcare, design often walks a fine line between sterile efficiency and comforting warmth. Patients and families crave calm, welcoming spaces, but providers need facilities that support clinical excellence, safety and infection control.

At ESa, we believe you don’t have to choose. Thoughtful design can merge health and wellness into a seamless experience that elevates patient care, supports staff and enriches the surrounding community. The Brownwood Center for Advanced Healthcare and Brownwood Hotel and Spa in The Villages, Florida, are prime examples of this philosophy in action. Developed, hand-in-hand, the projects blend healthcare services and hospitality-driven amenities, creating a model for what a community health destination can be.

ESa’s wellness-driven design philosophy
ESa’s work is guided by a simple principle: people always come first. This vision, set by founder Earl Swensson, continues to shape how we design environments that uphold dignity, comfort and a positive human experience.

Healthcare facilities don’t need to feel intimidating or cold. Design choices like natural light, intuitive wayfinding, calming colors and welcoming communal areas can dramatically influence how patients heal, while meeting infection-control standards. Brownwood offers a clear example of how these principles translate from concept to reality, blending healthcare and hospitality in a way that redefines patient experience.

The Brownwood vision: Creating a community health destination
What set Brownwood apart was the client’s foresight to connect a healthcare facility directly with a hotel and spa. Rather than creating a freestanding specialty care center, The Villages envisioned a hybrid model to support 13 specialties with outpatient surgery, endoscopy, cancer care, ophthalmology and rehabilitation alongside the comfort and amenities of an upscale hotel.

In a large continuing care retirement community, this connectivity benefits patients, families, staff and the broader community. The integration of health and wellness with the adjacent boutique hotel and spa was made possible through key design strategies:

• Connectivity and access: Second-level connections between the hotel and clinic allow guests to move seamlessly between the spaces, while wide corridors accommodate patients using wheelchairs or walkers. 30 dedicated patient rooms in the hotel provide overnight stays for surgery and elective procedure patients, enhancing continuity of care.
• Wayfinding and parking: Borrowing from hospitality design, ESa prioritized intuitive navigation, valet and self-park options and clear visual access from parking to entrances. Central lobbies and activated courtyards serve as welcoming gathering spaces that support both orientation and social interaction.
• Comfort over clinical coldness: Living-room style waiting areas, natural light, courtyard access and nearby coffee shops shift the atmosphere from sterile to restorative. These touches mirror the nearby Brownwood Town Square through locally sourced materials and finishings that reflect the history of the area as a former cattle town.
• Multi-use spaces: Over 10,000 square feet of conference rooms and event spaces in the hotel doubled as venues for staff meetings, mixers and training, directly supporting staff well-being.
• Retail and revenue synergy: Onsite dining and retail such as optical shops, hearing services and wellness offerings brought convenience to patients and staff while creating sustainable revenue streams. Additionally, the inclusion of Aviv Clinics’ Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy provides cutting-edge treatment that differentiates the facility.

Designing comfort without compromising care
To bring these strategies to life, ESa drew upon its portfolio of hospitality projects. Welcoming lobbies, concierge-style reception, elevated dining experiences and custom lighting all helped the facility feel less like a clinic and more like a place of comfort.

These hospitality-inspired features benefit patients and staff alike. Clinicians gain access to wellness amenities, conference spaces and restaurants that reduce the risk of burnout, while patients and families experience an environment where healing feels more human.

The design process relied on collaboration. Input from focus groups and data-driven planning ensured that the final facility met real needs rather than assumptions.

Shaping communities, shaping care
The integration of hospitality and healthcare has delivered clear value through improved patient convenience, better staff resources and enhanced community access to wellness. While not every healthcare system can adopt full service hotel integration, the guiding lessons are universal: prioritize comfort, think beyond the waiting room and design with both patients and providers in mind.

Brownwood reinforces ESa’s approach to designing smarter, more flexible spaces that serve multiple purposes while improving lives. The Brownwood Center for Advanced Healthcare and Brownwood Hotel and Spa stand as proof of what’s possible when clinical expertise and hospitality-inspired design come together.

For ESa, this project is more than an innovative solution. It’s a model for the future of healthcare environments where wellness is integrated into every stage of the experience. By balancing regulatory requirements with hospitality-driven design, ESa continues to reimagine healthcare spaces as places of healing and community connection.