Sheila Cahnman, president, JumpGarden Consulting LLC (Wilmette, Ill.)
Editor’s Note: This article is part a Healthcare Design’s Industry Predictions series. Throughout January, HCD will share perspectives from respected industry voices on where the sector may head in 2026 and what challenges and opportunities are on their radar.
Shelia Cahnman (Image credit: Organic Headshots )
Healthcare Design’s 2026 Healthcare Design Industry Predictions series continues with Sheila Cahnman, president, JumpGarden Consulting LLC (Wilmette, Ill.).
Here, Cahnman discusses some of the opportunities and challenges she sees for 2026, including the opportunity for informed healthcare planners to help client teams design for new treatment protocolas rather than potentially outdated routines.
Healthcare Design: What do you see as the biggest opportunity for change in the new year?
Shelia Cahnman: Rapidly evolving clinical practices that provide better outcomes while increasing efficiency and patient satisfaction will challenge former facility planning paradigms.
More than ever, designers must understand the latest and upcoming medical treatment protocols and how healthcare industry leaders are planning their facilities in response. Fortunately, new AI tools can streamline this research.
For instance, cancer care delivery is shifting away from exclusive reliance on IV infusion toward a mix that increasingly includes subcutaneous injections and oral therapies. There is an opportunity to create “fast track” treatment for cancer not dissimilar to emergency department fast track or vertical treatment zones which have gained a foothold over the past few years.
There is great opportunity for informed healthcare planners to bring this knowledge to our client teams rather than designing for their familiar but potentially outdated routines.
Anne DiNardo is editor-in-chief of Healthcare Design and can be reached at [email protected].
