Public Options—Private, Too: Healthcare Giants

Deborah Wilk -- Interior Design, 11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Among the many crucial issues crowding the political stage, one of the most volatile is health care. Regardless of one's stance on reform, the topic has long been a focus of the top Interior Design Giants, which have watched the category grow substantially in recent years. For the 40 health-care Giants, design fees earned in this sector amounted, on average, to 47 percent of total design fees, totaling an average $11.5 million from July 2008 through June 2009. According to one Giant, the patient demand for a higher level of service "means that hospitals are investing in environments that are distinguished by their welcoming atmospheres and family-friendly amenities—almost like hotels." The private sector accounted for 67 percent of the Giants' health-care projects over the 12-month reporting period. However, 28 firms worked on government health-care projects, further broken down into public-sector projects, at 85 percent of the government total, and military jobs, the other 15 percent.

The question of whether the health-care category will continue growing, as stimulus dollars flow into the economy, remains to be answered. "There is still considerable demand for facility upgrades and expanded capacity," another Giant observes. "Until economic conditions improve, many health-care providers are contemplating interior renovations and aesthetic enhancements to reinforce the public's perception of quality and brand identity, specifically among the more discriminating and well insured patients." Here's hoping that quality is something all patients will soon be able to afford.

Cannon Design's Carl J. and Ruth Shapiro Cardiovascular Center is at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston.

From top: HOK designed San Antonio's Methodist Stone Oak Hospital. The Cleveland Clinic's Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Pavilion is by NBBJ.

From top: Hammel, Green and Abrahamson designed the SSM St. Clare Health Center in Fenton, Missouri. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Liberty Campus is by Karlsberger.

Francis Cauffman designed the Gagnon Cardiovascular Institute in Morristown, New Jersey.

From left: OWP/P designed a patient-care tower for Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois. Anshen + Allen's Valley Health Center is in Gilroy, California.

From left: TRO Jung/Brannen designed the Harold Alfond Center for Cancer Care in Augusta, Maine. New York's Mount Sinai Center for Advanced Medicine is by Perkins Eastman.

St. Mary's Sun Prairie Emergency Center in Wisconsin is by Flad Architects.