Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo Celebrates 25 Years

TRUMBULL, Conn. — The 25th Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo celebrated a significant milestone at its annual conference, held October 2 – 4, 2012 at Chicago’s famed Navy Pier. The Symposium saw a 16-percent increase over last year’s exhibitor participation and a 13-percent increase in conference registration. Healthcare owners, architects, designers, engineers, interior designers, construction professionals and facility managers spent three days sharing ideas on healthcare delivery improvement, exploring industry trends and discussing healthcare facility design through case studies, panel discussions, networking, interactive exhibits and more.

The conference program featured more than 80 educational sessions presented by industry experts from around the world. In what has become a Symposium trademark, every case study presented featured a representative from the healthcare facility being discussed, allowing attendees to hear the facility representative’s perspective on the project. Session topics ranged from the impact of technology on facility design, managing projects on limited budget, best practices and key teachings from international case studies, medical tourism, generative space and exploring sustainability for healthcare facilities.

For the second year in a row, a Healing Garden was the most popular spot on the exhibit floor. The Healing Garden was designed and sponsored by landscape architecture firm Hitchcock Design Group and Aquascape and featured a number of therapeutic elements, creating a rejuvenating space for attendees to visit between educational sessions and networking.

Attendees were asked Why Are Hospitals Getting Bigger? in the closing session and discussed what has changed in the past five to thirty years that has affected the size of hospitals. William Heun with Matthei & Colin Associates and Neal McKelvey a senior hospital operations and construction executive lead the discussion of a packed room. Following the session a record number of attendees loaded onto buses to tour the newly finished Rush University Medical Center and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, as well as the North Park Simulation Center.

HFSE also proudly announced the 2012 recipients of “A Place to Flourish: The ‘Generative Space’ Health Improvement Award” co-sponsored by The Caritas Project and Medical Construction & Design Magazine. This year’s recipients were the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and the Arlington Free Clinic. Attendees heard from the winners during a session entitled, The Generative Space Primer, on Tuesday, October 2nd and could see a gallery of their projects throughout the conference.

The annual 2012 Symposium Distinction Awards sponsored by FacilityCare magazine were announced in a presentation on Wednesday, October 3rd. The highly esteemed competition honored design teams and individuals who have made a profound contribution to the healthcare design industry, and recognizes the best and most innovative new products exhibited at HFSE. Winners included:

PRODUCT AWARDS
Most Innovative – FireBlok Fire Suppression Gasket
Most Sustainable – Soothing Fresh by Tandus Flooring
Architect’s Choice and Best In Show – STRIATIONS™ BioBased Tile by Armstrong Commercial Flooring

DESIGN AWARDS
Team Award – Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
User-Centered Award – Perkins Eastman Architects PC, Elizabeth Seton Pediatric Center
Individual Award – Susan Mazer and Dallas Smith with Healing Healthcare Systems

The 26th Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo will take place October 1 – 3, 2013 at Navy Pier in Chicago, IL. The call for educational submissions will be announced at the end of October and manufacturers and solutions providers are already signing up for booth space. For more information, visit www.hcarefacilities.com.