Catch up with colleagues from across the country for a College update and to discuss the VA Task Force 2023 Report.
ACHA partnered with the Veterans Administration Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) Department to improve healthcare delivery to veterans via a yearlong Task Force. The Task Force recommendations included new healthcare paradigms to improve Veteran access to care and create an equitable system of care. Hear from some of the Task Force members during this Town Hall discussion.
July 21-23 | Chicago | Westin Michigan Avenue Re-Writing the Playbook for Transforming the Crisis in Healthcare
The current healthcare crisis remains in peril due to caregiver shortages and medical facilities consistently being overwhelmed as they attempt to provide universal high-quality patient care. As a result, patients search for other means to meet their medical needs. Institutions compete with one another, causing insurance rates to increase and countless hospital closures, especially in rural communities. How can our industry revamp the playbook to ensure better healthcare outcomes?
ACHA partnered with the Veterans Administration Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) Department to improve healthcare delivery to veterans via a yearlong Task Force, composed of six ACHA certificants and VA representatives . The ACHA Task Force recommendations included new healthcare paradigms to improve Veteran access to care and create an equitable system of care. The Task Force proposed a tiered, four-dimensional hub + spoke model that adapts to the veteran’s needs, utilizing high tech/high touch technology to deliver personalized health care services nationwide. The resulting Rapid Deployment Health Utility Base (RD-HUB) is a new strategy for bringing primary care to Veterans in rural and urban areas. The program centers around virtual and mobile technology, providing additional healthcare options for veterans and reducing the real estate footprint of secondary VA facilities.
The American College of Healthcare Architects has announced the election of Clyde “Ted” Moore III, AIA, ACHA, LEED BD+C of Haskell as the 2023 President of the Board of Regents. Steve assumes this role as of January 1, 2023 and succeeds 2022 President Steve Templet, AIA, ACHA,. Ann Adams, AIA, ACHA of Davis Partnership has been named 2023 President-Elect of the Board of Regents. In addition, Tracy Leigh Bond, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, and Ryan Turner, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, have joined the Board of Regents.
With a “return to normalcy” for many of us, 2022 has been a year full of activity and accomplishment – the ACHA Board have built on last year’s strategic discussions to push forward many new initiatives. As we questioned and studied in 2021 how to best serve our certificants, clients and communities, several one and two-year goals were set this year intended to maximize the effect and growth of the ACHA through targeted actions and accomplishments.
I would like to start with a heartfelt thank you to the many certificants who give their time and energy to the College in committees and task forces for the following efforts. The amount of time and energy given to the College is always a wonderful testament to the passion of our certificants.
Recruitment – Development of a dedicated Task Force focused on increasing awareness of the College within the pool of prospective candidates. This year has seen the largest number of successful exam-takers in the College’s 22 years and a growing Candidates Program. This would have been impossible without a focused outreach to potential candidates. The Recruitment Task Force has identified more strategies to connect the College with future applicants that will be developed in 2023 and beyond.
Marketing – Significant and successful increases in social media exposure for the College and our certificants via a marketing consultant and dedicated marketing focus.
What We Believe In Task Force – Following last year’s strategic discussions, the development of effective, succinct statements for the ACHA including ongoing discussions regarding a new Tagline.
New Pitch Deck - Creation of a new marketing tool for certificants to use in potential client, firm and candidate discussions.
Application and Exam Prep Videos – Creating newly updated prep materials for candidates for their use with short online-available videos.
2022 Survey – Following up the 2015 Survey of our certificants, this update has provided us internal statistics and benchmarks to guide us moving forward with future candidate engagement, our EDI directives, and providing marketing materials for certificants and the College.
ACHA Innovation for Healthcare Design Prize – Preliminary discussions on how to enhance and grow our role within our communities and within healthcare design with legacy efforts. Targeted for a 2024 Call for Entries.
Continuation of the Masters Series 2.0 – Led by ACHA thought leaders providing focused knowledge regarding topics at the forefront of our industry.
Yearly ACHA Calendar – Exploring calendar year changes for 2024 to more efficiently schedule events and programs.
External Organizations – moving forward with both current and new allied organizations with mutually beneficial activities that serve to increase our role as thought leaders. This includes development of our ASHE relationship, our burgeoning relationship with VA leadership and the expansion the Pillars with the addition of the Center for Health Design and the Nursing Institute of Healthcare Design.
The College and our certifications are unique, both here within the national healthcare design industry and across the world. And more than ever we are called to serve as advocates and outspoken leaders working towards environments that support health and wellness. My sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone involved in making this such as successful and productive year for the College.
Join ACHA for the third Town Hall of 2022! Catch up with colleagues from across the country for a College update and to discuss the latest in healthcare design and planning innovation. There will be meetings on both December 7th and 8th.
The American College of Healthcare Architects has announced the election of Steve Templet, AIA, ACHA of Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects as the 2022 President of the Board of Regents. Steve assumes this role as of January 1, 2022 and succeeds 2021 President Angela Mazzi, FAIA, FACHA. Clyde “Ted” Moore III, AIA, ACHA, LEED BD+C of FreemanWhite (a Haskell Company) has been named 2022 President-Elect of the Board of Regents. In addition, Jocelyn Frederick, FAIA, ACHA. LEED AP, and Deborah Smith, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP BD&C, have joined the Board of Regents.
As we near the end of 2021, we pause, reflect, and celebrate about aspirations and accomplishments. We’ve had a record number of certificants, more engagement from our existing certificants than ever before, more programs and initiatives, and more recognition from outside organizations of our thought leadership. We also used this year to develop a Strategic plan for the next five years and your Board of Regents dreamed big! We’re very excited to see where our reinvigorated committees and new task forces will take us in 2022 and beyond.
One of the most powerful “future looks bright” moments was during our annual luncheon when each of the eight Herman Miller scholars made it a point to express how excited they were to have been invited. These young healthcare architects (and those working toward licensure) are not only aware of our organization but view it as a career milestone to become certified. We cannot lose sight of the value of certification as we wade through the day-to-day experience of our work. It was refreshing to see through new eyes just how esteemed our organization and you, our certificants really are. WE ARE THE GOLD STANDARD. So much so, that our biggest challenge is demystifying the process so it feels accessible.
A few end of year highlights:
Look for video interviews of certificants releasing over the next few weeks to hear your colleagues’ perspective on things
The second segment of our Masters Series 2.0 on public health is now available for viewing on our YouTube Channel and we are excitedly looking forward to more upcoming topics and College Certificant speakers in 2022.
Certificant challenge: Please think of at least two candidates for certification and talk with them about the process. Send their names in to Emily Brochstein, our Executive director so that we can continue to follow up and make them aware of resources to assist them.
The Veterans Administration (VA) Construction and Facilities Management (CFM) has invited ACHA to help them streamline their process. Our newly formed VA Task Force will be partnering with this major national government organization to develop strategies on delivering better results, more efficiently, and with reasonable costs.
The Lifetime Achievement Award Task force is actively working on recommendations to create more diversity in applicants and jury while ensuring that those awarded emphasize the value of ACHA certification.
We are in talks with ACHE to jointly offer the Legacy Project Award. This one has been on the shelf for a few years and we hope to bring it back in a way that celebrates the contribution of ACHA Architects and visionary administrators and facility managers in healthcare.
It was a joy and relief to finally able to reconnect with old friends and colleagues and make new friends in Cleveland in October at HCD – our first large national in-person Healthcare Conference since November 2019 in New Orleans was a wonderful way to end the year and feel positive for 2022.
It has been an exhilarating year and we know that your incoming Board is going to continue this momentum into 2022. Using the strategic vision discussed this past summer, we feel the College is poised for exciting growth over the next several years as we focus on growing both our candidate program and the value of certification both personally and industry-wide for each of us.
Please take time to reflect on what this year has meant for you and let’s celebrate those accomplishments together! Share your stories on our LinkedIn group page. Please also contact us if you are interested in being more involved in any of our committees or task forces- we welcome your involvement. And looking ahead in the next few months, we can’t wait to see everyone again this year in New Orleans in March for PDC and Chicago in July for SLS. Happy holidays and wishing you an amazing 2022!