My new year typically kicks off with a phone call from my dad on Jan. 1 asking me if I’ve made any resolutions. I like to think it’s his way of checking in on my goals and continuing to “expand my horizons,” a phrase he likes to use to encourage family members to try something new.
Taking a page from that playbook, I reached out to Healthcare Design’s Editorial Advisory Board as well as the 2025 HCD 10 and Rising Star honorees to ask for their perspectives on the coming year and where they see the biggest challenges and opportunities. You can find all these insights and more in our “2026 Healthcare Design Predictions series” on hcdmagazine.com.
Looking through the responses, a few themes stood out to me.
1. Following a year defined by financial tightening, workforce shortages, shifting demographics, and economic uncertainty, industry leaders are poised to take these lessons learned and move forward. “Given new constraints and challenges that will continue into the future, 2026 will be our opportunity to rewrite the playbook, trading legacy constraints for curiosity, collaboration, and breakthrough solutions in healthcare design and construction,” noted one contributor.
2. Furthermore, many architects, designers, and facility planners shared that the focus for 2026 isn’t just about building bigger; it’s about building smarter, faster, and with greater empathy as project teams balance leveraging technology for efficiency and reclaiming the human connection in care delivery.
3. In addition to rethinking where and how care is delivered, they also see opportunity in evolving construction and project delivery practices that can offer solution certainty and rapid turnaround. Industry leaders also see opportunities for innovation and creating new tools to help tackle more complex projects.
HCD is further taking the pulse of the industry with our biennial A/E/C survey. U.S.-based healthcare architecture, engineering, and construction firms are invited to participate and share insights into how their firms fared last year and what’s on the horizon for 2026. Data from participating firms will be analyzed and shared in a state-of-the-industry report in our April issue and online. Complete the survey online here.
More welcome news for 2026—Healthcare Design, and our sister publication Environments for Aging, are excited to welcome our new Executive Editor April Shernisky. She brings more than 10 years of journalism experience to our team and is already diving in to learning the ins and outs of these industries. We’re excited to have her on our team.
Happy New Year!
