Healthcare Design - March 2022 - 30

The Center
PROJECT COMPANION
ADVERTISERS' INDEX
The Center's Functional Program Process Guide offers
step-by-step instructions to help teams better achieve
project priorities By Debra Levin
Architex .................................... C4
AVA by Novalis .............................2
Carolina ......................................1
D
EVELOPING A FUNCTIONAL
program is an important
first step in the design process
for a new healthcare
project, aiding in identifying
an owner's priorities
and requirements. Functional
programs exist to
help clearly define the level, type, and scope of
care provided and are used by both designers
and regulators to better understand the needs
of a facility and the best and most reasonable
application of building codes. Done well,
the functional program will provide a road
map that guides the project team and evolves
throughout planning, design, construction,
and commissioning.
Compelled by the return on investment from
a strong functional program, a requirement by
the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) to create
one for every project, and the lack of a comprehensive
and easily accessible tool that lays
out the diverse considerations, The Center for
Health Design's all-volunteer Environmental
Standards Council started working on ways it
could help make the task clearer, user friendly,
and efficient. Over nine years, this group conducted
workshops on the topic, eventually setting
out to create a free process guide tool for
The Center's website.
Launched at the end of 2021, the Functional
Program Process Guide became available to the
industry at healthdesign.org. The guide is an interactive,
easy-to-understand tool that distills
the process into a few steps, making a functional
program simple to incorporate on any project.
The guide details the rationale for implementing
a well-thought-out functional program and visually
shares the five distinct steps to developing
one, such as identifying the project's purpose,
initiatives, and intentions as well as defining operational
and functional requirements.
30
MARCH 2022
DONE WELL, THE
FUNCTIONAL PROGRAM
WILL PROVIDE A ROAD
MAP THAT GUIDES THE
DESIGN PROCESS.
Center for Health Design ..............16
EFA Conference + Expo..................6
HCD Conference + Expo ..............47
A graphic description of the functional program's
intent illustrates how a functional
program impacts each phase of a design project,
while another feature highlights the seven
FGI-required elements, such as purpose of
the project, project type and size, operational
requirements, and an executive summary.
Additionally, a " How to Use " section breaks
down each of the five steps into actions, FGI
requirements, and helpful comments, while
an FAQ tab addresses issues that commonly
arise when creating a functional program for
the first time.
The volunteers who championed this project
dedicated it to Richard Thomas, who chaired
the Environmental Standards Council for decades
and led the early charge on the functional
program work before he passed away in 2021.
We're proud to see his and the team's hard work
come to fruition. Looking forward, this tool
will help to create thoughtfully designed, wellinformed,
and quality healthcare projects for
years to come. 
Debra Levin is president and CEO of The Center
for Health Design. She can be reached at DLEVIN@
HEALTHDESIGN.ORG .
The index to advertiser page numbers is published for
reader convenience. Every effort is made to list page
numbers correctly. The listing is not part of the advertising
contract and the publisher is not responsible for errors
or omissions.
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La-Z-Boy Healthcare | Knú Comfort .12
modularArts ................................17
Tarkett ...................................... C3
Vaask ........................................15
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Healthcare Design - March 2022

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