For more than a decade, Healthcare Design magazine’s HCD 10 awards have celebrated the bold thinkers and trailblazers shaping the future of healthcare design. This prestigious program shines a spotlight on industry professionals and organizations across 10 categories, recognizing those who exemplify innovation and set new benchmarks for built environments that enhance care delivery.
Driven by a desire to solve complex industry challenges, the 2026 winners are making a tangible difference across the board. They are championing ambitious decarbonization and sustainability efforts, integrating immersive technology to validate clinical workflows, and elevating the voices of frontline healthcare workers in the design process.
From ensuring equitable design rigor in rural community hospitals to pioneering safer, data-driven solutions for behavioral health and high-acuity environments, these leaders are actively reshaping how healthcare spaces function and feel. Their work and drive ensure that modern care environments prioritize safety, dignity, and wellness.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll post profiles of the winners (links below), with insights from their nominations that impressed HCD’s editors, so check back often. The winners are also featured in Healthcare Design magazine’s June/July issue.
We’ll also celebrate the achievements of this year’s HCD 10 during an Awards Dinner at the 2026 HCD Forum, June 24-26 in Charleston, S.C.
The 2026 HCD 10
- Architect: Angela Kolosky, principal, healthcare planning market leader, DesignGroup
- Building professional: Kevin Sandrella, partner, project manager, CMTA
- Clinician: Annette Roehl, nurse/healthcare facilities design strategist, Froedtert ThedaCare Health
- Educator: Elizabeth Johnson, assistant professor, Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing, Montana State University
- Facility manager: Kyle Sunderlin, national engineering manager, Ascension
- Interior designer: Donald Cremers, senior principal and senior project interior designer, HOK
- Owner/provider: Kristin Poldemann, associate vice president of design and construction, The Ohio State University
- Researcher: Shan Jiang, associate principal and director of research, GBBN Architects
- Industry MVP: Abby Coleman, innovation extended reality specialist, IMEG
- Outstanding organization: UCI Health
Nominations for the 2027 HCD 10 will go live in early 2027. Go here for more information.
