Built as a replacement facility for the aging San Bernardino County Hospital, Arrowhead Regional Medical Center serves the eight million residents of Southern California’s “Inland Empire.” When it opened in March 1999, it boasted state-of-the-art seismic readiness, a new name and identity, and a sophisticated new wayfinding system developed by Corbin.

From the outset, the medical center recognized the importance of effective wayfinding to a visitor’s overall experience.

With this in mind, Corbin approached the project from the public’s point of view. Being a new facility, the medical center had the opportunity to establish a new public persona as a patient-oriented and friendly place, to which the signage project contributed both aesthetically and functionally. Corridors were given street names, terminology was simplified and destinations were spelled out in English and Spanish, to accommodate the region’s large Spanish-speaking population.

The signs are also designed to use inserts that can be readily updated and changed by the medical center’s own staff.