Healthcare Design - January/February 2021 - 9

EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Hank Adams

AT T E N T I O N G E T T E R

COVID-19 has brought a whole new conversation
around infection control, inspiring a renewed
look at products that support it By Jennifer
Kovacs Silvis
PLANNING A Product Issue amid a global pandemic

made it an easy decision to dedicate our feature
coverage to the role healthcare design products
play in the broader infection control landscape.
Thanks to an insightful group of industry members
across healthcare, design, and manufacturing segments who joined me for a roundtable discussion
on the topic, I learned a great deal about where we
are and what's coming next. And I'm not going to
lie, the latter is pretty scary.
From antibiotic resistance to surface-transmitted
deadly fungus, it's not anticipated that the healthcare industry will be out of
the woods when COVID-19 is gone. But if there's anything positive to come
out of the past 11 months, it's that the issue of how to prevent infection in the
built environment officially has our collective attention. From healthcare executives to frontline staff to housekeeping workers to patients, we're all invested in how to make spaces as safe as possible and avoid transmission.
What that means for the design and specification of products for healthcare is challenging, though. Not every pathogen is the same, nor is every
surface/material used to create a product or the protocol required to clean
it. The result is a lot of confusion around the numerous infection controlinspired solutions being brought to market right now and how they might
contribute to a provider's goals. As detailed in " Power of Prevention " on
page 18, the roundtable participants urged industry members not to specify in fear and remember to ask questions-lots of questions.
And while, yes, there's a lot of noise out there right now, I'm hopeful that it's
useful noise, signaling change on the horizon. After all, COVID-19 will pass,
but coming together as an industry now and making smart product choices
for projects going forward will better prepare us for the next outbreak-or,
better yet, help prevent it in the first place.
There's another threat looming for healthcare design, though. While the
pendulum has been swinging toward more hospitality-inspired, experiencedriven environments for several years, our roundtable shared that safety
is beginning to trump style in product selections. So should we brace for a
return to institutional settings in a post-pandemic world? I'm not so sure.
For starters, I don't really think any of you would allow that. But with this
newfound attention infection control has garnered, the buyer pool is deepening-and that's not just in healthcare. From hospitality to workplace to education, all commercial sectors are considering how they, too, can design durable,
cleanable environments. And no one in those industries wants to throw aesthetics out the window, either. I have a feeling that manufacturers will be busy
in the coming months and years making sure no one has to. 

Wayne Barger
Carolyn BaRoss
Sam Burnette

HDR

SMITHGROUP
PERKINS&WILL

EARL SWENSSON ASSOCIATES

Sheila F. Cahnman
JUMPGARDEN CONSULTING LLC

Thomas W. Chessum

CO ARCHITECTS

James Crispino
GENSLER

Christine Hester Devens
Mary Frazier

AECOM

EWINGCOLE

Jocelyn Lum Frederick
HC TANGRAM DESIGN

Catherine L. Gow

FRANCIS CAUFFMAN

Natalie Miovski Hagerty
THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA

Suzen L. Heeley
MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER

Scott Holmes
Walter Jones
Randy Keiser

BWBR

METROHEALTH SYSTEM

TURNER CONSTRUCTION CO.

Julie Kent

TRINITY HEALTH

Bryan Langlands
Tiana Lemons
Michael Lied

GBBN ARCHITECTS

Mike McKay
Victoria Navarro

NBBJ

ORCUTT/WINSLOW

UW HEALTH

ADVOCATE AURORA HEALTH

Kurt Neubek
Don Orndoff

KAISER PERMANENTE

Diane R.K. Osan
Chris Powers

PAGE

CANNONDESIGN

BURNS & MCDONNELL

William D. Repichowskyj
E4H ARCHITECTURE

Kim Shinn
TLC ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS

Janet H. Sisolak
UT MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER

Karl R. Sonnenberg
ZIMMER GUNSUL FRASCA ARCHITECTS LLP

Kurt Spiering
Steve Stokes

HGA

GRESHAM SMITH

Jeffrey C. Stouffer

HKS INC.

Paul E. Strohm
Jocelyn Stroupe

CANNONDESIGN

Melanie Taylor
Joshua A. Theodore
Anthony Treu

HOK

BOLDT
LEO A DALY

SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL

Travis Tyson
Gary L. Vance

CLEVELAND CLINIC
VANCE CONSULTING

J A N U A R Y/ F E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1

Healthcare Design - January/February 2021

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