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ARTICLES
A Cardiac Care Destination
Health Facilities Management
Designed for Change
Medical Design & Construction
"Throughout the project, [Ryan project team]
CONTINUOUSLY ROSE TO THE OCCASION to meet and exceed my high expectations as we collaborated in setting a VERY HIGH BAR to measure success at the very beginning of this project. They were TRUE PARTNERS. I have often said that the most important part of any relationship is trust. I can say that over the course of this project Ryan has EARNED EVERY BIT OF MY TRUST. The building is heralded as one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL BY THE PUBLIC AND THE MOST FUNCTIONAL BY THE STAFF; this did not happen without Ryan’s guidance.
-Jim Atty, FACHE, Executive Director of Cardiology Jewel and Jim Plumb Heart Center
MEET THE TEAM
NICK MARRA Designer
AHMED TANTAWY Designer
ADAM RUHLAND Design Project Manager
CAROLYN HAGMANN Project Designer
SHANNON WAKEHAM Project Interior Designer
BETH KOEPPEL Project Architect
LEXI SOSALLA Project Interior Designer
BRENT BENUSA Senior Project Architect
TODD O’NEILL Senior Technical Designer
MACKENZIE GRIGORE Senior Project Architect
CASEY COTCAMP Senior Project Designer
STEVE SCHLOTTHAUER Senior Project Architect
KAILIN HURINENKO Project Interior Designer
HANNAH DAVIS Project Interior Designer
SUMEYA MOHAMED Interior Designer
NICOLE SCHWAMBERGER Interior Designer
CHEYENNE WILES Interior Designer
ALENA JOHNSON Vice President of Architecture
ADAM MCLANE Director of Architecture
MEGAN MCNALLY Director of Interior Design
RYAN DYER Director of Design
ANDY MARLOT Director of Specifications
BLUEPRINTS FOR
BETTER HEALTH
THE POWER OF DESIGN
Design plays a critical role in creating successful healthcare environments. With highly specialized expertise, healthcare designers understand the complexities of inpatient, outpatient and residential care settings as it relates to building layout, staff and patient flow, safety, materiality, acoustics, and lighting. Effective design can lead to improved patient outcomes by providing opportunities for connection, supporting communities that are most vulnerable, inspiring wellness and optimism, and reinforcing an organization’s mission.
Healthcare design should solely focus on functionality.
The most impactful environments are ones that reflect the mission, local context and patient population served by the healthcare system. When combined with operational efficiency, design considerations focused on patient/staff flow, aesthetics, comfort, noise reduction, adaptable lighting, and navigation work together to reduce stress and anxiety, creating a more supportive healthcare experience.
FACT
MYTH
All wayfinding problems can be solved by larger signage.
Architects can only help once a project scope has been identified.
Interior design is a purely aesthetic talent.
Navigation issues can diminish patient satisfaction and influence patients' attitudes when interacting with staff. Journey mapping allows for a full view of the visitor experience that outlines the need for effective wayfaring, whether that is through signage, or memorable landmarks such as art pieces, architectural elements, or varying colors to help differentiate areas and assist in orienting visitors.
Master Planning helps clients navigate through the unknowns to help them determine their facility needs. Ryan's healthcare design team guides client through exercises to evaluate their goals, program growth, utilization, benchmarking, building flow, and operational success, ultimately providing a solution the client feel confident in moving forward with.
Board Certified Healthcare Interior Designers (CHID) are trained to understand the critical issues that impact the healthcare environment and its users, ranging from implications of cleanability and long-term maintenance, infection prevention, navigation and wayfinding, acoustical considerations and safety.
MYTH
MYTH
MYTH
FACT
FACT
FACT
PRESSURE VALVE
MASTER PLANNING
While nothing can fully predict the future of the quickly changing healthcare landscape, engaging in scalable master planning exercises can help find a happy medium between only seeing the big-picture vision with the individual immediate challenges. While the traditional approach is a comprehensive process that can take between 5 and 20 years to fully implement, we understand it's not always feasible. Narrowing this traditional master planning approach to a single department, building, or end goal still requires a commitment of people and financial resources, but allows systems to take their big-picture vision and adapt it to your immediate needs.
SCALES OF MASTER PLANNING
INDIVIDUAL DEPARTMENT
Unit Consolidation/ Expansion, Unit Remodels
Complexity
Low
Implementation Window 0-2 Years
Implementation Window 0-2 Years
Stakeholder Engagement
Limited, Focused
Requires less initial resources but the result can be implemented immediately and will provide tangible solution for an immediate challenge but will not consider future facility goals.
INDIVIDUAL BUILDING OR MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS
MULTIPLE BUILDINGS OR PHASES
Multiple Departments/Services
Complexity
Medium
Implementation Window 0-5 Years
Implementation Window 0-2 Years
Stakeholder Engagement
Layered
Requires a moderate amount of initial resources and time. Will deliver more immediate solutions that start to consider the the system's future goals and crossdepartment needs.
IN PRACTICE
Complexity
High Hospital Campuses, Outpatient Locations, etc.
Implementation Window 5-20 Years
Implementation Window 0-2 Years
Stakeholder Engagement Intense, Layered
Requires more initial resources and time, but will deliver a comprehensive, holistic solution that is evaluated through the lens of logistical operations and care delivery.
When Endeavor Health, Illinois’ third-largest health system was navigating growing service lines, flourishing successful partnerships, and a limited campus capacity at their Elmhurst Hospital Campus, the team dove into a phased planning approach. In the first two months, the hospital leadership, design, construction, and real estate development teams took a deep dive into the hospital’s real estate footprint, hospital strategy, service line trajectories, and the facility’s ability to grow vertically and horizontally. The planning exercises were led through the lens of the individual hospital campus but aligned to the system's big-picture goals and resulted in quicker decision-making on the priorities of what needed to be built and when. Ultimately, the recommended strategy allowed Elmhurst to prioritize and achieve its immediate growth needs while understanding the impact this facility investment would have on the bigger picture.
AT THE HEART OF CEDAR RAPIDS
MERCY’S
NEW CENTER REDEFINES CARDIOVASCULAR CARE
To become the heart center of choice in eastern Iowa, Mercy Medical Center expanded its cardiovascular services with the 72,000-SF Jewel & Jim Plumb Heart Center in downtown Cedar Rapids. The high-tech facility offers comprehensive cardiovascular care, including education, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation. The ground floor features a two-story lobby, rehabilitation space, imaging suite, flexible conference spaceroom, café, and peace room, while the upper level houses 72 exam rooms and staff support areas.
Modern Inclusivity
The heart center design modernizes Mercy’s faith-based brand. A colored glass façade, inspired by 1940s stainedglass windows, contrasts with traditional red brick and subtly references crosses in the glass and brickwork. The design embodies Mercy’s values while staying inclusive, spotlighting the facility’s innovative cardiovascular care.
Future Vision
To establish Mercy as a premier provider, the new center was designed for future vertical expansion. The team created outpatient spaces while planning for future inpatient areas, ensuring all decisions considered potential occupancy impacts. Special provisions were made for MEP and structural systems, preparing the foundation for additional floors and future utilities.
Community Approach
The design features flexible spaces for community use, including an adaptable education room near the lobby for events or smaller programs like healthy meal prep. Bright colors and natural light evoke hope and joy, enhancing patient experiences. The facility promotes cardiovascular education and serves as an engaging community resource.
Operational Efficiency
Mercy aimed to enhance operational efficiency to retain quality employees and attract top talent. The design team established centralized collaboration zones and open pods near team stations, improving teamwork and reducing hierarchy. This layout also helped the clinic recruit over 20 new staff members.
Patient Delivery
To become a premier provider of cardiac care in Cedar Rapids, the new heart center challenges traditional practices. The design team shadowed Mercy’s clinical teams to observe patient, staff, and supply flow, leading to the recommendation of a chair-centric approach instead of traditional exam tables. This change enhances patient comfort and aligns with their mobility needs during examinations.
Patient Experience
The heart center emphasizes an approachable, easy-tonavigate experience that alleviates patient anxiety. Key features include large graphics, simple flooring patterns, and a color-coded exam hallway system, supporting a dementiafriendly environment. This wayfinding strategy enhances patient satisfaction and fosters independence.
BUILT TO EVOLVE DESIGNING
FOR CONSTANT CHANGE
"With only a finite amount of space to work with, it’s imperative that during the design phase we consider how our client’s spaces may need to flex for future needs. Our key focus should be to educate our clients on how decisions made within the design phase can support or hinder how easy it can be to adapt to the fast-paced world of healthcare.
While we can’t anticipate all future changes within a healthcare setting, it is possible to align critical elements that can support future changes and growth. Needs are constantly evolving and having the ability to transform spaces for different needs can help support our clients even further. Designing spaces now for tomorrow’s needs helps equip healthcare providers to navigate unforeseen circumstances and future programming, retain staff with a better work environment, and align to changing needs."
Read more from Megan McNally (Interior Design Director) in Medical Design & Constructions Future Ready Issue here .
Our job as designers is to help our clients evoke the feeling of, “When this is completed – this is how the community can engage with it. At the Endeavor Health’s Cardiovascular Center – 10 Martin, our team prompted the client with several questions about potential uses for their space that could include anything from community education courses to hosting galas. Big-picture questions asked early in the design phase help designers frame the level of flexibility needed for programs such as these.
One of the key changes we see is that systems are consolidating multiple care services into single spaces to create greater operational efficiencies. M Health Fairview combined its primary care and urgent care services into a single space that could flex seamlessly during varied operating hours. At the time of design, the operational hours were still to be determined. Ryan’s team created a lobby, exam room, and lab/imaging suite layout that allowed full access during normal business hours. Strategically placed corridors and secure doors to enable Urgent Care to remain open across a smaller footprint after hours and on the weekends.
Designing for positive staff experience is critical for both retaining quality staff and providing quality patient experience. At the Jewel & Jim Plumb Heart Center, the design teams shadowed care staff to understand patient waiting and throughput, movement of staff and materials, and communication of care teams. During these explorations, we discovered that the traditional physician offices were not being used for case collaboration, and instead, the physicians were spending their time within their team’s stations on the clinic floor. As a result, the design team allocated more square footage to creating centralized collaboration zones and placed smaller office modules for physicians adjacent to the team stations.
SPACE THAT SUPPORT AND HONOR STAFF
SPACE FOR CONSOLIDATING MULTIPLE SERVICES
SPACE FOR PREVENTATIVE CARE AND
US DEPT OF VETERAN AFFAIRS
IMAGING & INFUSION CENTER AKRON, OH
MERCY MEDICAL CENTER HOSPITAL-BASED EMERGENCY ROOM MARION, IA
COMPLETION DATE: JUNE 2025
This 24,000 SF clinic includes imaging (MRI, CT and ultrasound), infusion areas, and a pharmaceutical compounding lab requiring compliance with USP 797/800 Sterile Cleanroom Standards, which requires extremely strict compliance for air/environmental control and pressure relationships. Ryan performed entitlement services and had a RePlat performed on the property. Ryan also assisted in the relocation of existing utilities crossing the site. Additionally, this project is targeting LEED Silver Certification.
COMPLETION DATE: NOVEMBER 2024
As Mercy Medical Center looked to expand their outpatient services into surrounding communities, they reached out for their off campus, freestanding, hospital-based emergency room in Marion, IA. We have become their go-to healthcare experts for all their real estate needs due to our long history working on their main campus; the trust of our team (with an over 30 year relationship); and recent design and construction of their stateof-the- art cardiovascular centerJewel & Jim Plumb Heart Center.
AMBULATORY SURGERY CENTER AT THE CENTER FOR ADVANCED HEALTHCARE THE VILLAGES, FL
COMPLETION DATE: 2024
COMPLETION: MONTH YYYY 50-60 Words
The Center for Advanced Healthcare at Brownwood faced a unique challenge when Ryan took on a project that a previous team abandoned. A joint venture between Surgery Partners and Value Health sought to merge three distinct brands into one cohesive aesthetic within a 28,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center (ASC). The team proposed a unique occupancy split within the suite, overcoming regulatory hurdles while minimizing disruption to adjacent operating suites. Working in an active facility required finesse and constant communication.
ELMHURST HOSPITAL EXPANSION & RENOVATION
ELMHURST, IL
COMPLETION DATE: EARLY 2028
Ryan’s healthcare team is leading Endeavor Health through a 100,000 SF hospital renovation and cancer center vertical expansion at their Elmhurst campus. With extensive renovations within the existing hospital footprint and a three-story expansion on their existing onestory cancer center will provide refreshed and expanded space for their growing programs including Surgery (Observation, PACU, Prep/ Recovery, Operating Suite), Sterile Processing, Labor and Delivery, and Cancer Care (Infusion, Endoscopy, Oncology Clinic).
