E22 – A Community Imprint Approach to Healthcare Design
How can healthcare environments be both universally healing and deeply reflective of the communities they serve? This session explores a community-imprint approach to healthcare design developed for the new Vista Pavilion at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon. OHSU’s executive leadership challenged the project team to create a bespoke yet inclusive environment that reflects the identity of place, elevates under-represented voices, and demonstrates the University’s commitment to the greater community and advancement of care.
Moving beyond traditional community engagement, the team incorporated design equity principles, evidence-based strategies and brain science to create a rigorous, repeatable framework for gathering valuable insights through surveys, mock-ups, and multiple feedback forums with patients, caregivers, and researchers. These insights directly shaped the space program, layout, operations, and aesthetic, ensuring the environment felt welcoming, safe, and restorative.
The result, validated through post-occupancy evaluations, demonstrates how authentic community voice can drive organizational value and meaningful outcomes that benefit all. Attendees will learn practical strategies for embedding equity, research, and community insight into healthcare design to create environments that truly reflect the people they serve.
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