Inside a Leading Medical Cannabis Dispensary: A Patient-Centered Experience

The flagship Greensburg facility of Keystone Integrated Care (KIC) will open soon as the first medical cannabis dispensary in Westmoreland County., Pennsylvania. Additional KIC sites are set for Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood and nearby Cranberry Township.

KEYSTONE INTEGRATED CARE’S CHALLENGE

KIC’s mission is to enhance their patients’ health and wellness by providing the highest quality products and service. KIC views their dispensaries as physical expressions of this mission and a means to directly guide and support their patients’ journey.

Even though medical cannabis became legally available in Pennsylvania late last year, the majority of licensed dispensaries have yet to open. Many prospective patients may imagine that a dispensary will resemble a West Coast- style “headshop”. KIC’s Greensburg’s facility design dispels these notions, and instead delivers a sophisticated, patient-centered health and wellness experience.

THE AE WORKS DESIGN

Well before they received their license, KIC realized that a leading-edge, patient-centered physical design that met all security and compliance requirements required input from a team of innovative outside experts.

KIC reached out to AE Works, a veteran-owned, Pennsylvania headquartered building design and consulting firm to help them realize their vision.

In response, AE Works’ full-service architecture, planning, engineering, owner’s representation, and security risk management services personnel worked together to provide KIC with an integrated, single-source solution.

THE SOLUTION & WHY IT WORKS

The result was an attractive, highly functional and experience-enhancing space that features the following design principles and their tangible application:

Health and wellness: A patient’s experience of a new kind of wellness can start with the look and feel of a space. Clean simple lines combined with natural materials, such as wood and cork, will create a welcoming atmosphere similar to a medical spa.

Comfortable, patient-focused experience: Patient comfort is a primary focus, supported by a skilled support team that guides check-in, consultation, product selection, and purchase. The building layout will accommodate such flow while ensuring patient privacy. The patient experience will be further enabled through the use of handheld check-in devices, well- positioned educational materials, and clearly visible product display.

Community integration: KIC’s building is scaled to integrate with the surrounding mixed-use neighborhood. Clearly marked paths provide safe and easy approach to the dispensary. Ample parking is provided; and the entire site enjoys convenient access from a well-traveled state route and public transportation.

Integrated, unobtrusive security features: Medical cannabis dispensaries must adhere to stringent security regulations. Accordingly, unobtrusive security features were folded into the physical design to encourage a natural flow of patients through the facility without their awareness of necessary, behind-the-scenes protocols.

Sophisticated brand expression: KIC’s overall brand — as an industry leader committed to service and wellness — comes to life within all aspects of its dispensary’s physical space.

KIC and AE Works collaborated to create a model, patient-centered environment that embodies the organization’s values and guiding principles.