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BSA Presenting Expertise at Healthcare Design Conference + Expo

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September 24, 2026

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Healing

BSA Brings Research-Informed Healthcare Design Strategies to Healthcare Design Conference + Expo

BSA will bring healthcare design expertise, research-informed strategies, and lessons from projects across the country to Healthcare Design Conference + Expo, October 18–20 in New Orleans. Across five educational sessions, BSA leaders and partners will explore how healthcare environments can respond to changing clinical needs, support the people who use them every day, and remain adaptable for the future.From post-occupancy evaluation and behavioral health to ambulatory care and rural healthcare, BSA’s presentations highlight a common approach: using evidence, collaboration, and real-world experience to inform better healthcare environments.4

Take a look at our sessions below.

Evidence from the Field: POE-Informed Strategies for Hospital Expansion 

As healthcare campuses expand to meet growing community demand, understanding how existing facilities perform in practice is essential to making informed, future-ready design decisions. Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) provides a critical feedback loop, allowing organizations to assess how spatial design impacts staff workflows, safety, environmental comfort, and overall operational performance. This session presents findings from a comprehensive, multi-method POE conducted at UNC Johnston Health and demonstrates how the results directly informed planning priorities for campus expansion and renovation efforts.
The POE evaluated five clinical departments—Labor & Delivery, Postpartum, ICU & PCU, Med-Surg, and Nursery—using staff surveys, walkthroughs, spatial analysis, and open-ended feedback. Across departments, findings revealed consistent themes related to staff work area functionality, visibility and adjacency for patient monitoring, adequacy of support spaces, and the impact of storage, equipment placement, and circulation on workflow efficiency. While patient room size and overall unit layout were frequently cited as strengths, staff satisfaction was negatively affected by undersized nurse stations, limited charting privacy, poorly located restrooms, inadequate staff amenities, and inconsistent zoning of clean and soiled supplies.
Department-specific insights highlighted how localized design decisions can have system-wide operational consequences. In Labor & Delivery and Postpartum units, nurse station configuration, lighting quality, and charting orientation influenced teamwork and patient visibility. In ICU, PCU, and Med-Surg units, staff amenities, equipment access, pneumatic tube placement, and lift availability affected efficiency, safety, and staff well-being. In the Nursery, the square footage and outdated infrastructure constrained limited clinical functionality and emergency preparedness.
The presentation translates these findings into actionable design strategies, illustrating how POE-informed recommendations—such as optimizing staff work zones, improving storage and equipment planning, enhancing staff amenities, and clarifying circulation—can improve performance while supporting future growth.

Research‑Informed Design for Equitable, High‑Performance Clinics  

This session presents a mixed-methods study examining the real-world performance of outpatient clinic environments and translating those findings into actionable design insights for healthcare planners and designers. The study evaluated four outpatient clinics within a single healthcare system using an integrated research approach that included behavior mapping, patient shadowing, Gemba walk-throughs, staff surveys, and open-ended staff feedback. Observational methods documented patient movement, waiting patterns, and staff–patient interactions across public and clinical spaces, while survey and qualitative data captured perceptions of privacy, comfort, efficiency, and satisfaction. Multivariate regression analysis identified the environmental features most strongly associated with patient experience, stress, and perceived efficiency of care delivery. Findings revealed consistent misalignment between design intent and actual use.

Designing for Healing: Creating an Adult Behavioral Health and Medical Psychology Unit

As part of the new Indiana University Hospital in downtown Indianapolis, Level 8 will feature two integrated 16-bed units: an Adult Inpatient Psychiatric Unit and an Adult Psychiatric Medical Unit. Designed to balance safety, healing, and operational efficiency, these units support patients with complex behavioral and medical needs. The design emphasizes ligature-resistant features, passive observation, and staff wellness while fostering a therapeutic, patient-centered environment. Recognizing that behavioral health care begins at arrival, a dedicated pod in the Emergency Department enables timely assessments in a secure, compassionate setting. The Psychiatric Medical Unit adds further complexity by integrating medical equipment into a behaviorally safe environment, supporting comorbid treatment needs. Shared and private spaces promote patient autonomy, while family engagement and interdisciplinary collaboration are supported through purposeful layout decisions. Natural light, urban views, and calming materials enhance the healing atmosphere. This project sets a new benchmark for integrated behavioral health design in acute care.

Built to Flex: Using Prototype Modules to Future-Proof Ambulatory Clinic   

As ambulatory care delivery evolves, healthcare systems must design clinic environments that adapt to shifting specialties, care models, and operational demands without repeated renovation. Houston Methodist’s new Cinco Ranch Comprehensive Care Center and future size-adaptable prototype models were developed as part of a systemwide ambulatory strategy in partnership with BSA, using prototype clinic modules as the primary mechanism for embedding flexibility into the built environment.
The modular framework established a consistent planning logic for exam rooms, team work areas, shared support spaces, and circulation, while allowing clinics to flex by specialty, staffing model, and patient volume. Modules were intentionally designed to support multiple scenarios, enabling clinics to transition over time with minimal physical modification. Simulation modeling, full-scale mockups, and stakeholder engagement were used to test performance under varying operational conditions, including peak volumes, cross-coverage staffing, and vertical stacking.
Deploying the modular strategy across both projects revealed critical lessons, including aligning module dimensions with staffing ratios, strategically locating shared support spaces, and balancing standardization with targeted customization. This session shares practical insights into designing, testing, and refining clinic modules as adaptable systems, offering transferable strategies that support long-term flexibility, operational resilience, and consistent, safe performance across ambulatory environments.

Design-Build + Target Value Delivery: A Lifeline for Rural Healthcare in Times of Uncertainty 

Rural hospitals face escalating pressures that directly affect the health, safety, and welfare of patients, staff, and surrounding communities. Accelerated construction cost escalation, inflation-driven material and labor volatility, evolving federal funding conditions, and workforce shortages place critical healthcare capital projects at heightened risk—often threatening clinical functionality, patient safety, and equitable access to care.
This session examines how an integrated Design-Build + Target Value Delivery (TVD) approach supports safer, more resilient rural healthcare environments by enabling informed decision-making, cost predictability, and risk mitigation throughout planning, design, and preconstruction. Using the Hillsboro Health Surgery, Entrance, and Central Utility Plant (CUP) project as a case study, presenters from BSA, O’Shea Builders, and Hillsboro Health will demonstrate how early interdisciplinary teaming, continuous cost modeling, and scope–value alignment preserved critical clinical requirements while responding to market uncertainty.
Attendees will gain actionable strategies for aligning project scope and budgets with patient safety, operational continuity, and long-term community well-being. The session highlights delivery methods that reduce owner risk, support equitable access to healthcare facilities, and strengthen the resilience of rural hospitals serving vulnerable populations.

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