HCD Guest Author

HCD Guest Author's Latest Posts

Lasting Impression: Northwestern Memorial Hospital

Pioneering projects get a lot of press when they first open, becoming the touchstone and inspiration for the design of other projects.  After we explore the cutting edge, perhaps it’s even more important to understand how a project has performed after years of use—the consequences, intended and unintended, of design.

A Forecast For Change

Many people are talking about the changes happening in the healthcare industry and how they could affect building design and construction. I hear at least one presentation on the topic at every program I attend. In our quest to stay ahead of major shifts that could alter how we do business, we’re constantly looking to experts to predict the future so we can skate to where the puck is going and not to where it currently is.

Setting The Foundation For Healthy Living

Today, a hospital is no longer seen as a destination for the sick. Health systems across the U.S. are transforming their campuses into community hubs for health and wellness. At the same time, healthcare is increasingly delivered in community settings such as schools or homes, where patients are empowered to manage and improve their own health.

All Is Well: Eat Well, Live Well

All Is Well: Eat Well, Live Well

As a hands-on way to encourage wellness, more and more health systems are on a mission to show and tell their communities how to eat well. Introducing demonstration kitchens, some with mini-auditoriums, has become an innovative way for hospitals to engage the public in disease prevention and management.

Designing Healthcare Spaces To Support Healthy Lifestyles

Traditionally when people have thought of a healthcare facility, they’ve envisioned an uninviting environment where you go when you’re sick. But health facilities are working hard to change that image as they promote healthy lifestyles.

Today, health systems are beginning to focus more on becoming wellness destinations—convenient places that the public wants to visit to proactively manage their health.

Design That Meets Ebola At The Door

Design That Meets Ebola At The Door

The recent outbreak of Ebola in parts of West Africa put in focus the lack of a coherent strategy for addressing infectious disease outbreaks, as fear and confusion around the crisis resulted in many potentially preventable deaths.

Is It Time To Reinvent Healthcare Design?

I recently read an article on the future of the lighting business and it made me think about our own industry and the path we’re on.

Thomas Edison invented the first commercially successful light bulb in 1879. Since that time, the technology behind the light bulb continues to be refined and improved. But it’s only been in the last few decades, as a push for reduced energy usage became significantly more important, that large leaps forward were made. 

Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series