Healthcare Design Conference
October 25-28 | Kansas City, MO
AAH is proud to be an association partner for the Healthcare Design Conference + Expo, the ultimate networking, education, and product-sourcing event. Join us for expert insights on the latest trends, best practices, and leading-edge approaches in the planning, design, construction, and ongoing operation of health care spaces. Leave with new connections, new ideas for current and future projects, and earn AIA, IDCEC, EDAC, and nursing LUs to meet your continuing education goals.
We invite conference attendees to join us at AAH sessions and events over the three days, and stop by our counter in the general conference area to learn more about involvement opportunities.
Saturday, October 25
AIA-AAH STERIS Student Design Charrette Mid Term Review & Critique
9:00am-12:00pm CT | Room: 2215 AB
The relaxed mid-term review and critique of this exciting this 37th annual event is designed to highlight the brilliance and innovation of our future health care architects. Students from University of Illinois, Iowa State University, The University of Kansas, and Morgan State University will bring their creativity and ideas to this fun and evocative design challenge. This is a chance for professionals to meet some of the next generation of health care designers and give feedback on their design progress at the midpoint of the charrette.
Sunday, October 26
E10: Crucial Classifications: Understanding Occupancy Types and Design of Ambulatory Care Facilities
9:45-10:45am CT | Room: 3501 A
Speakers will share an approach to evaluating occupancy classifications with a focus on ambulatory health care facilities. Spaces where procedures are performed or receive patients who are unable to respond to an emergency often leads to challenging conversations about providing the appropriate environment for patient care. The nature of the treatment, the condition of the patient, and the use of sedation are key factors in determining an appropriate occupancy. Understanding factors such as invasiveness, sedation level and infection prevention is important to the planning and design of ambulatory health care facilities to provide appropriate infrastructure and a safe environment for patient care.
E21: Benchmarking Metrics of AIA AAH Award-Winning Emergency and Clinic Projects
11:00am-12:00pm CT | Room: 3501 A
How can national benchmarking analysis help inform your projects through each design phase? After developing standardized measurement protocols and establishing specific clinic benchmarking metrics, the Academy of Architecture for Health Research Committee has assembled a data base of over ten years of AIA Healthcare Design Award winning projects. In the Round Table format, you will preview the following metrics being studied and discuss with your peers the value and significance of the metrics and how they inform or impact your own spatial programming and design. A. Hospital Emergency Department - SF Metrics: DGSF/BGSF and DGSF/DNSF Multipliers and Trauma room ratio - DGSF, Clinic Support, Behavioral Health room, Trauma rooms, and Fast-track bays per Treatment Bay - EMS travel distances to treatment - Public area waiting and circulation spaces B. Outpatient / Ambulatory - POD and Clinic care team typologies (Onstage//Offstage, Linear, and Central): Facility net to gross, POD net to gross, Total usable net to POD gross. - POD metrics: POD sizes, PODs per facility, POD support room sizes, and POD gross, staff core & total usable net per patient care rooms, - Clinic Ancillary Departments programming trends: Department SF ranges and ratios per patient care rooms. - Public areas metrics for waiting and circulation spaces, to explore multipliers.
E32: Cultural Competency and Humility: Advancing DEI and Advocacy in Practice
2:00-3:00pm CT | Room: 3501 A
This peer developed and led presentation demonstrates the importance of cultural competency and humility and how it is an integral component of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Utilizing an ethical and holistic approach, this session aims to bring knowledge on developing self-awareness and strategies to eliminate bias. Participants will explore actionable ways in supporting cultural integration, building structures of communities, and how we all can become informed on ways to incorporate dignity and action-based behaviors in our work. This session provides a foundation for becoming stronger allies, providers and social justice advocates that advance anti-racism and combats oppression in our work. Utilizing evidence-based resources, intersectionality concepts, along with lived experiences annotations, this presentation offers a more nuanced understanding on cross-cultural work and the impact it has on advocacy. Attendees will leave equipped to drive effective change, foster more inclusive spaces and demonstrate the true embodiment of having respect for others in professional and community settings.
E43: Adaptive Resiliency: Field Experience in Solving Complex Challenges
3:15-4:15pm CT | Room: 3501 A
This session will look holistically at resiliency in healthcare from several perspectives, using multiple project challenge and solution case studies. These include resiliency as it pertains to clinical staff mental health and retention, natural and man-made disaster response and future mitigation, and building community-scale resiliency will be discussed. Presenters will showcase innovative solutions to these resiliency challenges to achieve better resiliency at all scales. Included in the case studies are inpatient, outpatient, and community-based examples of creative partnerships and methods to improve resiliency. Available resources for resilient design and planning will be highlighted. The session will start off with a small presentation, highlighting resiliency lessons learned from recent natural and man-made events, and actual resiliency improvements. The team assembles table topics for small group discussions and facilitate discussions related to the following topics and others per audience request: staff resiliency/preventing burnout; major natural or man-made disaster readiness; resilient design planning; extended emergency power; on-site water and fuel resources.
AIA-AAH Academy Update and Reception Celebration
5:00-6:30pm CT | Room: 2215 C
Join AIA-AAH members, friends, and leaders for an update on the latest developments within AIA-AAH, followed by a relaxed evening to celebrate our 80th year. Connect with friends and colleagues while enjoying great food and refreshments. Attendees will also be able to meet and greet the talented and hard-working STERIS Student Design Charrette participants and the MillerKnoll Scholars.
Monday, October 27
E55: Mentorship in Action: Building Your Professional Network in Healthcare Design
9:30-10:30am CT | Room: 3501 A
Propel your healthcare design career with the transformative power of mentorship and networking! This session is designed for emerging professionals who want to cultivate meaningful connections, gain expert guidance, and build a strong foundation for long-term success in this dynamic field. Discover how mentorship can shape your career by providing invaluable insights, fostering growth, and opening doors to new opportunities. Learn the essentials of building mentor relationships, including how to identify the right mentors, establish clear roles and expectations, and nurture these connections over time. In addition to mentorship, explore effective strategies to enhance your professional network. From mastering the art of starting impactful conversations to leveraging online platforms and joining professional organizations like the Academy of Architecture for Health, this session provides actionable tips to help you stand out and expand your reach. Whether you’re just beginning your journey in healthcare design or seeking to enhance your current path, this session offers the knowledge and tools to elevate your career. Walk away with a deeper understanding of the mentorship process, the confidence to build and maintain a robust network, and the inspiration to take charge of your professional growth.
AIA-AAH STERIS Student Design Charrette Presentations
3:45-5:45pm CT | Room: 2215 C
This exciting 37th annual event is organized to highlight the brilliance and innovation of our future healthcare designers. Four different schools (University of Illinois, Iowa State University, The University of Kansas, and Morgan State University) from across the country are selected for an opportunity to exhibit their creativity and ideas in an explorative and challenging design charrette. This session showcases the design concepts generated during the 48-hour charrette held over the previous weekend. Every year this charrette proves to be expansive with different students, universities, and advisees.
Tuesday, October 28
AIA-AAH Tuttle and GMZ Fellowship Presentation
9:30-11:30am CT | Room: 2502 A
The AIA Arthur N. Tuttle Jr. Graduate Fellowship in Health Facility Planning and Design supports graduate students to increase awareness of the needs and nature of healthcare facilities, and to advance the knowledge of planning and design for healthcare environments.
Ana Sandoval, AIA, an M.S. Architecture + Health Student at Clemson University, will present her study on Designing for Dignity: A Model for Women and Newborn Healthcare Settings in Honduras. Many women in Honduras, primarily those from low-income and minority populations, lack access to dignified healthcare spaces that support the provision of quality care during pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum. This thesis proposed that the culturally relevant, patient-centered, and efficient design of maternity and newborn centers in Honduras can improve utilization and patient satisfaction, support quality care and positively impact desired maternal and infant outcomes. Ana will explain how primary and secondary research were used to develop evidence-based design guidelines for women and newborn settings.
The Griffin/McKahan/Zilm (GMZ) fellowship has been established by three leaders in healthcare planning and design through the Foundation for Health Environments Research to encourage research in healthcare programming and planning.
Ali Mahmoudi, a Doctoral Student at The University of Florida, will present his study on Operationalization of a Decision-Making Model for Workplace Violence Prevention Through Environmental Design in Hospitals. This research aims to operationalize a decision-making tool for healthcare designers and decision-makers to prioritize and make informed decisions to prevent workplace violence in hospitals. This decision-making tool is expected to facilitate the prioritization of environmental and design prevention strategies by offering a context-agnostic framework that can be used by architects, designers, facility managers, and healthcare decision-makers according to their contextual needs and limitations. Ali will describe how incident data and expert input can be integrated into the Analytical Hierarchy Process framework to address the tool’s limitations.