Healthcare Design - December 2020 - 29

KEYNOTE

scalability. For example, he said future facility
design may need to consider enhanced screening or testing capabilities near entrances, which
could be addressed with a double chamber entrance. Material selection, updated HVAC systems that support compartmentalization and
negative pressure rooms, and touchless technology are other strategies that could be used to
help facilities address infection control and reduce the spread of pathogens. " As we move forward, these are considerations we'll be looking
at with clients, " Stouffer said.
Discussing what factors are influencing design and construction in the industry, Wagner
said, " I think we're still figuring out the balance. " For example, she said many clients are
rethinking their real estate needs in light of the
work-from-home movement and rising telehealth services. She also anticipates more focus on infection control, including discussions
about the use of privacy curtains in clinical
spaces, utilizing windows with integral shades,
and material choices.
When asked where they'd like to see the industry head, Stouffer said he's optimistic that the
experiences of the last several months will accelerate innovation in the industry. " I think it's a
call to action for all of us, " he said. Wagner said in
the past healthcare has been designed to be lean,
not ﬂexible. With COVID-19, she's seeing clients
start to rethink their investments and how best
to serve patients while being more adaptable.
One issue that BaRoss would like to see addressed going forward is access to care and the
role of healthcare in the community. " What's
really rising to the surface is the need to focus
on health locally and globally, " she said. Jones
added " speed to market " to the list of opportunities for improvement, noting that one of the
challenges will be compressing timelines while
being as responsive as possible to get needed
facilities up and running " both for current
needs and ones not thought of yet. "
During a time in history when people are
more aware of connecting and how we come
together, Grandy says he sees promise in
the idea of " technology-powered humanity. "
" We have to ﬁnd ways to use technology in service of advancing humanity, " he said. But he
cautioned against implementing technology
for technology's sake. Rather, he said, think of
it as an " enabler " or an " on-ramp for human
connection. " -Anne DiNardo

C H ANGEM AKER AWARD:
A PASSION FOR P LANNING
A S PA RT O F

HCD
Virtual, The Center for Health Design presented its
2020 Changemaker
Award to Cyndi McCullough, evidencebased design director at HDR (Omaha,
Cyndi McCullough
Neb.). The annual
award honors individuals or organizations
that have demonstrated the exceptional ability to change the way healthcare facilities are
designed and built, and whose work has had
broad impact on the advancement of healthcare design. During a video presentation and
then Q+A discussion with Rosalyn Cama,
president of Cama Inc. and chair emeritus of
The Center's board of directors, McCullough
talked about her career journey, work on patient-focused care, and commitment to bringing the value of evidence-based design (EBD)
to the forefront.
McCullough's 30-year career has spanned
multiple disciplines, from serving as a nurse
manager of a transplant and urology/nephrology unit to working as a senior health
consultant. She's also covered 3 million
miles along the way, contributing to projects including a new critical access hospital
340 miles north of the Arctic Circle for the
native Inupiat and the King Faisal Medical
City in Saudi Arabia that's currently under
construction. As an early proponent of EBD,
McCullough has been a prolific author and
speaker on the topic over the years, as well.
However, despite the decades spent in this
industry, McCullough shared that healthcare
design wasn't her first choice. " When my sister suggested I consider nursing as a career,
I thought she was crazy, " McCullough said.
Nevertheless, she took her sister's advice
and decided to leave her education studies to
pursue nursing. After graduating from nursing school, she landed a job at a hospital. " It
turned out my sister was right, I loved my job, "
McCullough said. However, she quickly discovered that healthcare in general was frag-

mented, patient rooms were way too small
for families and equipment, and supplies
were never where they needed to be. " The
physical environment did not support our
workﬂow, " she said.
This prompted McCullough to participate
in some early research on patient-focused
care at her hospital, which eventually led to
incrementally renovating the facility floor
by floor, examining and improving processes, and changing behavior. Her personal
experiences in nursing in addition to her
research fueled a passion to seek opportunities to create efficient healing environments
on a broader scale. " I soon realized that most
of my workday was spent consulting with
staff from facilities around the world, and
that was the part of my job that I enjoyed the
most, " she said. " I knew that working with
an architect was the best way to push change
and facility design. "
McCullough next joined HDR and began
a new career. " [Healthcare planning] wasn't
just new to me, but also new to a profession
that was only just beginning to understand
the facility implications of design interventions, operational planning, and technology
to deliver a better, more efficient quality of
care, " she said. " Our goal has always been to
apply EBD strategies to change how healthcare facilities are programmed, planned, and
designed to improve staff efficiency and satisfaction and, above all, patient experiences
and outcomes. "
While she thinks there's still work to be
done when it comes to the EBD framework,
she said she feels fortunate to have helped
pioneer what she called a " rebel revolution "
that laid the foundation for widespread
recognition of the benefits of EBD and the
subsequent adoption of its principles. " I'm
inspired daily by our work and the work
of our competitors, using each project to
learn, grow, and achieve demonstrable improvements that can be used to improve the
next project, " she said. " It never gets old. "
-Tracey Walker

DECEMBER 2020

Healthcare Design - December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - December 2020