The Center for Health Design Joins 2024 PDC Summit as Newest Supporting Organization

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 16, 2024

CHICAGO — The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) announced that The Center for Health Design has joined the 2024 International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction (PDC Summit) as a Supporting Organization and strategic educational collaborator. 

The PDC Summit, taking place March 17-20, 2024, in San Diego, Calif., brings together thousands of health care planning, design and construction professionals to learn, network and share solutions with the goal of maximizing safety, health and operational outcomes in healing environments. The Center for Health Design is the latest organization to join a diverse cohort of health care-focused organizations that jointly produce the PDC Summit, and as a Supporting Organization will add years of architecture and design conference expertise and significantly expand the breadth of unbiased research and educational content offered at the event. 

“The PDC Summit has always been about bringing thought leaders together from all corners of the field to confront challenges in health care planning, design, construction and operations. Solutions to these challenges can’t come from just one area alone,” says ASHE Executive Director Lizzie Ortolano. “Collaborating with The Center for Health Design adds an important part of the equation and rounds out the Summit’s planning and design pillars. The Center’s dedication to research and informed design feeds knowledge to the planning, design, construction and operations process, and their involvement will give Summit attendees greater access to key resources they can rely on to better make decisions and improve health care as a whole.”

By welcoming The Center for Health Design as a PDC Summit Supporting Organization and strategic collaborator, ASHE and its fellow Summit organizers will expand the exchange of research, education and expertise and create more opportunities for networking between each organization’s members. The strategic collaboration will foster business development that will attract new PDC Summit attendees, exhibitors and sponsors who specialize in exterior and interior design, fixtures and furnishings, lighting systems and signage/wayfinding. 

The collaboration will also elevate The Center’s roster of impactful initiatives, including its Evidence-Based Design Accreditation and Certification (EDAC) program. A key attraction of the PDC Summit is that it provides a neutral environment for organizations representing all corners of health care and design to freely collaborate and exchange ideas on how to change health care planning, design, construction and architecture for the better — both today and in the next 20 years. This prospect, and the nonprofit nature of ASHE and the Summit, led The Center to shift its longtime support from another for-profit design conference to the PDC Summit starting with the 2024 event.

“After many years of collaborating with ASHE on a range of initiatives to advance the use of design research to improve health care outcomes, we’re excited to take our relationship to the next level,” says Debra Levin, Hon. FASID, EDAC, president and CEO of The Center for Health Design. “Working together with ASHE and the American Hospital Association, mission-driven organizations with deep roots in the health care community, we look forward to building a solid and enduring bridge between the design and health care communities that will lead to new innovations in health care design as well as unprecedented opportunities for business development and growth for the field.”

The Center for Health Design is an industry-leading nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting evidence-based design practices by maintaining the largest collection of health care design research, best practices, resources and tools. Thousands of professionals, including architects, interior designers, health care executives, researchers, product manufacturers, students and educators, rely on vital information collected and published by The Center to design, construct and operate healing environments that maximize patient outcomes.

This year’s PDC Summit sessions include keynotes by best-selling author Shola Richards, health care futurist Dr. Daniel Kraft and generative AI thought leader Dr. Radhika Dirks, plus a wealth of interactive sessions and peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing forums. The Summit will also feature a new, 12-session conference track produced by The Center for Health Design that focuses on research, design and outcomes, as well as a new preconference workshop led by The Center — additions that greatly enhance the content geared toward health care architects and exterior/interior designers. Attendees can earn continuing education credits toward industry-standard certifications, including, as of 2024, The Center for Health Design’s EDAC certification. The conference is also a hub for technological innovation in the health care design and construction field, anchored by an exhibition featuring hands-on demonstrations from cutting-edge solutions providers. 

The Center for Health Design joins several distinguished institutions as Supporting Organizations for the 2024 PDC Summit, including: ASHE, the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA); Academy of Architecture for Health, a Knowledge Community of the American Institute of Architecture (AAH AIA); Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN); Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC); ASHRAE; Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI); International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety (IAHSS); Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design (NIHD); and the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers (AAHID) — who also recently joined the event and will further expand the Summit’s offerings in the health care design field. 

More details on The Center for Health Design’s contributions to the 2024 PDC Summit will be available soon. For the latest news on the Summit and other ASHE programs and events, sign up for updates at ashe.org/stay-informed-updates. To register for the 2024 PDC Summit, visit ashe.org/education/pdc-summit. The Center’s Affiliate Members will receive ASHE member pricing on PDC Summit registration.

About ASHE
The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) is a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association. More than 11,500 members rely on ASHE as a critical source of professional development, information and advocacy, including representation on key issues that affect their work in the health care physical environment. For more information about ASHE, contact 312-422-3800 or visit ashe.org.

About The Center for Health Design
The Center for Health Design is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to maximize health through informed design. Through design research, education and community, The Center is transforming health care environments for a healthier, safer world. Learn more at healthdesign.org.