Healthcare Design - February 2019 - 48

Time

W H AT L E S S O N F R O M Y O U R
F I R S T H E A LT H C A R E P R O J E C T D O
YOU STILL CARRY WITH YOU
T O D AY ?

ON INDUSTRY TRENDS

No matter the budget, we can do something that
improves the experience-ease wayfinding, introduce
natural materials, provide better lighting or acoustics,
increase ventilation, add color, organize spaces,
improve workflows, etc. It makes a difference for both
the patient and clinicians.

THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE
YOUR DESIGN AESTHETIC

1 contemporary
2 pragmatic
3 nature inspired (OK, that's
four words)

F AV O R I T E ...
Q U O T E "Life is short. Live life each day as your
last. Have no regrets!"-My father.
BA N D / M U S I C A L
A RTI S T Chris
Stapleton.
M O V I E C H A RACT E R
The Godfather, Don
Corleone. He remains
poised under pressure.
W EEK E N D
A CTI V I T Y Fire pit
with my kids at night. It's
relaxing and fun.
CO L O R Shades of blue. I think of the sky, ocean,
and water.
GU I LTY P L E A SUR E Pizza.
S O C I A L M E D I A OUT LE T LinkedIn. I like the
postings and articles.
S N A C K W H E N Y OU T R AVE L Dried fruit.
CIT Y T O VISIT
Boston. Yes, I live
there. But we have
such a beautiful
and historic city
and seaport area!
Otherwise, New
York-a diverse
city with many
progressive
architectural styles, a sense of history and energy,
and arguably the hub to America.

RON GORHAM

Principal, healthcare practice
leader, Perkins+Will, Boston
EVEN AFTER 28 years in the industry,
Ron Gorham still clearly remembers his first project as an architecture intern: a new radiation therapy
vault. Because he was new to healthcare design
and didn't know much about the treatment, he
says his first step was to study the environment,
something he was taught to do in school. He
got the chance to observe the clinical staff and
then shadow a boy receiving radiation therapy
and his mother. What he saw affected him. "I
noticed the visceral reactions they had as they
went from waiting room to exam room to the
linear accelerator vault: scared, intimidated,
confused, and not wanting to be there," Gorham
says. "The whole experience changed the way I
look at healthcare projects." Inspired by this,
he decided to focus his career on healthcare.
In November 2018, he left TRO Jung Brannen
after 22 years to lead the healthcare practice at
Perkins+Will's Boston office, where he's worked
on an addition for Maine Medical Center (Portland, Maine) and pharmacy upgrades at Queen
Elizabeth II Medical Center (Halifax, Nova
Scotia, Canada). "Healthcare projects are complex and meaningful," he says. "We can have an
impact on the people who enter the buildings we
design."-Anne DiNardo

OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, YOU'LL
L I K E LY F I N D M E ...
Outdoors. It keeps me grounded.

ITEMS ON YOUR DESK

I have one: A baseball.
I enjoy sports and it's how I
approach life: Individually we
practice each day to be at our best
and we go to the plate swinging
hard each time to hit the ball. If a
ball gets by you, shrug it off and
learn from it. On the field, your teammates will back you
up. In practice, we try individually to make a difference,
yet no matter how talented we are, we play as a team and
we win or lose as a team. It's a team sport.

D O G O R C AT ?

Coffee, black. I need the jolt to function in the a.m.

MORNING PERSON OR NIGHT
OWL?
Definitely night owl.

TEA M Red Sox.

BEER, WINE, OR LIQUOR?

HO B BY Backpacking.

FEBRUARY 2019

Circular inpatient
units. It's a great
conceptual planning idea
for visibility to a central
nurses' station but not
very flexible for change of
use in the future.

COFFEE OR TEA?

S PO RT Baseball.

48

components can also help
provide quality control,
increase the speed of
construction, minimize
on-site disruption, and be
cost neutral.

Dog. Protector, loyal, friend.

I C E C RE A M F L AVOR Fudge ripple.

BO O K Bible. So many great stories that are
relevant to today.

Flexible/adaptable
planning and use
of prefabricated design.
The world of healthcare
is constantly changing,
and our buildings need
to be adaptable to those
changes. Appropriate
column spacing, floor
heights, and redundant
engineering infrastructure
will allow for greater
flexibility in changes of
clinical use. Prefabricated

Beer. I enjoy the variety of craft brews.

W I N D O W O R A I S L E S E AT ?
GORHAM IS OVERSEEING THE DESIGN TEAM ON THE CONGRESS
STREET ADDITION FOR MAINE MEDICAL CENTER, EXPECTED TO BE
COMPLETED IN 2023.

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

Window seat. I like to see new places and where I'm
going.

PERKINS+WILL

fac e
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Healthcare Design - February 2019
