Doug Erickson Awarded FGI Pioneer Award

Douglas S. Erickson, FASHE, is a recipient of Facility Guidelines Institute’s Pioneer Award. From FGI’s inception until 2023, Erickson was an active member of the Board of Directors and served as FGI CEO from 2015 to 2023.

Erickson began working on what is now known as the Guidelines documents in 1978 when he worked for The Joint Commission. In the 1980s, he assumed a leadership role after the federal government divested itself of the original Minimum Requirements for hospital design.

Recognizing the importance of these documents, Erickson, along with J. Armand Burgun, FAIA, FACHA and Joseph G. Sprague, FAIA, FACHA, FHFI, testified before the U.S. Congress in 1984 to obtain permission to take over the revision process for the Minimum Requirements and secure financial support from the U.S. Public Health Service. This lead to the formation of the HGRC, the multidisciplinary group of federal, state and private-sector experts tasked with overseeing revisions to the Guidelines documents.

In 1998, seeing the necessity for a dedicated organization to consistently update the Guidelines, Erickson, Burgun and Sprague cofounded FGI as an independent, nonprofit entity. FGI took on the responsibility of maintaining and revising the Guidelines through a formal consensus-based process. Since then, the Guidelines have been meticulously reviewed and revised on a regular cycle to reflect the ever-changing landscape of healthcare delivery, technology and regulatory requirements.

To honor his enduring contributions, FGI established the Douglas S. Erickson Health Care Research Award in partnership with The Center for Health Design. This award is dedicated to funding research in advancing the design of healthcare and residential care environments that better support patients and health care professionals. More information about the award and application process will be announced soon.