While we are actively engaged in ongoing standards-related initiatives with the Facility Guidelines Institute, Joint Commission and other accrediting and regulatory agencies, our Environmental Standards Council (ESC) is a volunteer group committed to improving the regulatory standards of the Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities.
The ESC is a multidisciplinary group that includes healthcare facility executives, design professionals, regulatory agents, product manufacturers and educators. The ESC co-authored the "Environment of Care" chapter in the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Guidelines for Design & Construction of Healthcare Facilities. Unanimously accepted by the Guidelines Review Committee, this chapter outlines the environmental factors that contribute to patient, staff and family satisfaction as well as increased safety, fewer medical errors and a healthier financial bottom line. Learn more about the guidelines.
Current Members
Gloria Cascarino, CEO, Medical Equipment consulting, LLC
As the former Director of Hospital Operations and Materials Management, Gloria was “The Client” during major construction and renovation projects, giving her a unique perspective as a Medical Equipment Planning Consultant. An expert in emerging technology and equipment budgeting, she plans medical equipment for all types of healthcare clients, with projects that range from small renovations to replacement hospitals. She has a special interest in energy-efficient equipment that conserves resources while improving patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Gloria is an integral member of project teams - from conceptual planning through project completion, providing valuable insights and delivering the measurable benefits of quality medical equipment planning to healthcare clients and design professionals alike. She provides guidance to clinical staff to maximize their use of existing equipment, forecast technology needs and make prudent spending decisions. At the same time, she supports the architects and consultants with timely and productive technology information, enabling the project team to have confidence that all medical equipment has been accommodated in the design and utilities planning.
Corey Gaarde, FHIMSS, CPHIMS, Associate Principal | Project Executive, IMEG Corp.
Corey is an Associate Principal and Project Executive for IMEG’s Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) Advisory Services Team. His role strategically aligns HIT to the collaborative design process. As a biomedical engineer with more than 20 years of healthcare experience, he fosters client and vendor relationships while developing and implementing complex healthcare IT projects. His technical expertise, clinical aptitude, and innovative approach bridges the gap between technology, architecture/engineering, and clinical operations to drive an owner’s mission and create service-oriented design. Corey focuses on technology innovation to improve patient and caregiver experience, while ensuring a connected care interoperability model. His consultative ability to collaboratively challenge the current state offers unique perspectives while encouraging innovative solutions that balance cutting edge results, realistic expectations, and favorable outcomes.
Debbie Gregory, DNP, RN, Clinical Innovation and Transformation Senior Clinical Consultant, Smith, Seckman, Read, Inc.
Dr. Debbie Gregory is a national leader in healthcare design, innovation, and transformation. As a nurse executive and interior designer, Dr. Gregory is passionate about “Intentional Design” that aligns People, Place, and Process. She creates and transforms environments into functional ecosystems using complex systems science, strategic design and innovation thinking. Dr. Gregory has a Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership from the University of Minnesota and a bachelors in nursing from Vanderbilt University. Currently, she serves as Senior Clinical Consultant for the Technology Planning Group at Smith, Seckman, Reid, Inc., a national engineering firm.
In today’s healthcare environment, clinical transformation and innovation are essential in navigating and reengineering the care delivery model of the future. She serves as a liaison and visionary between the clinical community, the design and construction community, and the IT/engineering community to interpret and enhance the clinical operations and functionality of the healthcare environment. She develops strategies for operational and financial improvements designed to advance clinical excellence, improve quality of care, patient experience, and overall patient outcomes. She is a frequent presenter at national conferences and has authored many articles in national publications. Dr. Gregory provides educational summits that bring healthcare leaders, technology experts, and visionaries together to discuss the future of the healthcare delivery model and the integration of technology. She is the co-founder and past president of the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design (NIHD) and current President of the Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design Foundation. Debbie is co-editor of Health Environments Research and Design Journal and Adjunct Professor at Clemson University, University of Kansas and Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
Alie Hodges, Project Controls Technician II - Space Planning, AECOM
Alie is a Design Professional from the Carolinas. She is passionate about advancing design in Healing and Learning Environments. With project experience varying from Ambulatory Care, Behavioral Health, to Higher Education, she values the Importance of Human Experience which serves a major role in the outcome of these built environments. While applying learned Project management, Space Coordination, and Technical skills to each project she finds being flexible in the industry has pushed her development as a designer. Alie strives to be a leader and influence on the design industry as trends and research continue to evolve globally.
Andrea V. Hyde, CHID, MDCID, Senior Planner/Designer, Johns Hopkins Healthcare System Facility Architecture & Planning Department
Andrea enjoys spreading the word about the positive effects of evidence-based, innovative healthcare design on improving patient outcomes where ever she can, having spoken at ASHE, AAHSA, Center for Health Design, International Medical Spa, NeoCon and NeoCon East, Hospital Build (Dubai) and other healthcare focused conferences and events. Her healthcare design work and research efforts have been published in healthcare focused journals and have won ASID and IIDA healthcare design awards. For her considerable efforts in the healthcare design industry Andrea was selected out of 150 nominees as one of the “top twenty designers who are making a difference in advancing the design of healthcare facilities” in Healthcare Design magazine.
Thomas M. Jung, M.Arch
Tom’s 30+ years of experience with the planning, architectural design, and construction of healthcare facilities was spent primarily with the New York State Department of Health’s Certificate of Need Program. Tom has been honored by Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health for his service to New York State’s healthcare system, recognized by Healthcare Design Magazine as one of 20 national professionals “making a difference”, and awarded a Leadership Award from the New York Society for Health Planning. Tom is also a founding member of the CHD’s Environmental Standards Council. He has been intimately involved with development of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities since 1997, eventually serving on both the Steering Committee and the FGI Board of Directors. After retiring in 2011 Tom consulted with a select group of healthcare facilities and providers until 2018.
Debra Levin, Hon FASID, EDAC, President and CEO, The Center for Health Design
Debra’s trailblazing efforts in the field of healthcare facility design research, education and advocacy have propelled The Center for Health Design (CHD) into industry consciousness and the forefront of healthcare design.
Under Debra’s leadership, CHD's flagship research initiative, the Pebble Project, has gained international recognition and grown from four participants to more than 80. Debra led the creation of the annual Healthcare Design and Environments for Aging conferences, which are produced by Emerald Expositions, in association with CHD. She has forged successful partnerships with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, California Health Care Foundation, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, The Donghia Foundation and other prestigious healthcare and design organizations.
Also under Debra’s watch, CHD's membership has expanded to include a rich, multidisciplinary group of architects, interior designers, healthcare executives, healthcare professionals, researchers, product manufacturers, educators, students, futurists and more.
Robert C. Masters II, AIA, ACHA, EDAC, LEED AP, Principal, CannonDesign
Rob has spent over 25 years immersed in the planning, design, and construction of healthcare and health science projects for prominent academic medical centers, community hospitals, and municipal agencies. As CannonDesign’s New York City Health Market Leader, Rob excels at delivering projects that balance leading-edge medical technologies with evidence-based, patient-focused healing environments. He advances built environment solutions that are fully integrated and supportive of emerging care delivery models, working with leading healthcare systems to improve the overall patient experience, reduce length of stay, and ultimately increase efficiency and benefit patient outcomes.
In addition to his work with the Environmental Standards Council, Rob is a member of the Health Guidelines Revision Committee (HGRC) for the FGI Guidelines, a member of the Codes & Standards Committee within the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health, and the Career Path Committee within the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA). Rob is board certified by the ACHA, holds EDAC certification from the Center for Health Design, is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, and is a LEED Accredited Professional by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Chase Miller, RA, NCARB, Planner/Project Manager, BSA LifeStructures
Chase is a planner and project manager at BSA LifeStructures and is passionate about delivering client-focused solutions. He is on the cutting edge of process improvements and lean principles as they relate to the delivery of healthcare projects, and the design of the care environment.
As a planner, Chase develops master plans, guidelines, and tools for healthcare organizations to critically assess their current state while beginning to think strategically about their future state. Working within a dynamic team, he collaborates with diverse stakeholders to optimize the design, program, and function of facilities across the continuum of care.
As a project manager, Chase works hand in hand with organizations, guiding them through the project process, from planning and pre-design, to design, and all the way through construction. He provides a consistent presence throughout the process while using lean methodology to improve efficiency, minimize downtime and disruption, and manage schedules and budgets, to allow the organization to do what it does best; deliver the best care to its patients.
Patricia A. Moore, PhD, President, MooreDesign Associates
Patricia Moore is an internationally renowned gerontologist and designer, serving as a leading authority on consumer lifespan behaviors and requirements. For a period of three years, Dr. Moore traveled throughout the United States and Canada disguised as women more than eighty years of age. With her body altered to simulate the normal sensory changes associated with aging, she was able to respond to people, products, and environments as an elder.
An international lecturer and author, Dr. Moore holds undergraduate degrees in Industrial & Environmental and Communication Design from the Rochester Institute of Technology, completion of Advanced Studies in Biomechanics at New York University’s Medical School & Rusk Institute, graduate degrees in Psychology and Counseling and in Human Development (Social Gerontology) from Columbia University.
Moore has been named by ID Magazine as one of The 40 Most Socially Conscious Designers in the world and was selected in 2000, by a consortium of news editors and organizations, as one of The 100 Most Important Women in America. Syracuse University has selected Moore for a 2012 Honorary Doctorate for serving as a “guiding force for a more humane and livable world, blazing a path for inclusiveness, as a true leader in the movement of Universal Design.” The Rochester Institute of Technology has inducted Moore as a 2012 member of the “INNOVATORS Hall of Fame”. ABC World News featured Moore as one of 50 Americans Defining the New Millennium.
Gabriela Mujal, MHA, Director of User Experience and Behavioral Insights, Wildflower Health
Gabriela is a Director of User Experience and Behavioral Insights at Wildflower Health, a women’s health digital company for value-based care. She earned a Master of Health Administration from Saint Louis University and a Bachelor of Psychology from Santa Clara University.
Previously, she worked in the medical device industry and with a non-profit health system applying qualitative and quantitative research methods and commercializing new products and services that integrate medical services and nutrition.
She is passionate about taking a multidisciplinary, user-centered approach to understand how psychological drivers impact the digital and built environment and to find the right solutions that incorporate behavioral science into UX design to advance population health and improve health outcomes.
Erica Parker, EDAC, Innovation Designer, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Erica Parker is an Innovation Designer passionate about human-centered design and solving complex problems. She loves identifying unmet needs, conducting research, ideating, and developing concepts with beautiful interfaces (UI), heuristic experiences (UX), and prototyping interactive designs (IxD). Before joining MD Anderson, Erica worked as an Architectural Designer and Medical Planner and most recently, a Healthcare Product Designer.
Erica's experience has ranged from the design and construction of inpatient and outpatient facilities, surgical platforms, and imaging modalities to the design and development of Healthcare VR/AR/XR applications. Erica is passionate about user experience across the full design life cycle of complex products and services that enhance our digital and built environments for patients and clinical teams. She enjoys working closely with engineering, strategists, and stakeholder teams to plan and evaluate the feasibility and viability of innovative ideas. She strives to bring creative solutions that improve patient outcomes and quality of life while managing the innovation process from ideation to commercialization.
Outside of work, she combines her passion for art, architecture, technology, and design by advising underrepresented founders and early-stage startups. She is a proud JEDI Champion (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion) who prioritizes access, inclusion, and equity in all her work.
Michael A. Pomarico, NCARB, ASHE, Architect, Pomarico Design Studio Architecture, PLLC
Mr. Pomarico possesses comprehensive experience in all aspects of healthcare systems architecture, and related support services. For over 33 years Mr. Pomarico has exclusively provided Planning, Programming and Architectural Design services on a broad range of healthcare projects. Over the course of his career, he has programmed, planned, and designed virtually every aspect of the healthcare delivery continuum. Mr. Pomarico has also created HealthRisk Technologies, Inc., a software company dedicated to the advancement of pre-construction risk assessments, monitoring and analysis of healthcare construction environments. Mr. Pomarico’s software has been designed to improve the monitoring of life safety and infection control in the environment of care. Mr. Pomarico has mastered the ability to successfully integrate his experience, knowledge of codes and healthcare delivery processes into transformational project design features and construction documents to ensure life safety and improve the patient and healthcare delivery experience.
Alberto Salvatore, AIA, NCARB, EDAC, Associate Principal, Harley Ellis Devereaux
Alberto has 40 years of experience in healthcare architectural master planning, programming, department planning, and design. He has successfully lead teams nationally and internationally on projects large and small. Over this time he has come to understand and define the Physical Environment as only one of the system of components that define the Environment of Care (EOC) that is required to be addressed in the design of Spaces and Places that support the well-being of our communities and caregivers. Alberto was a key participant in defining the base knowledge used to integrate EBD into practice. He also participated in the development of the EDAC examination and sits on the EDAC Advisory Council, as well as, the Environmental Standards Council for The Center for Health Design.
Jerry Smith, FASLA, LEED AP, EDAC, Principal, Smith\GreenHealth Consulting, LLC
Trained as a landscape architect and an architect, Jerry Smith is Owner/Principal at SMITH | GreenHealth Consulting, LLC, based in Columbus, Ohio and licensed in New York. He has been involved in healthcare design since 1988 and in sustainable healthcare (green heath) since 2003. In 2010, Jerry was inducted into the Council of Fellows of the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Jerry’s impact on the healthcare design industry is evidenced in the significant appointments and contributions he has made to transformational industry organizations, including the Environmental Standards Council of The Center for Health Design, the Steering Committee of the Green Guide for Health Care, the Technical Core and Human Health & Well-being Committees of the Sustainable Sites Initiative and the Board of Directors of the Ohio Chapter of the US Green Building Council. Jerry Smith is on adjunct faculty at Ball State University, where he was appointed the 2010 Faculty Fellow in Landscape Architecture.
Ana Szyld, NCIDQ, Interiors Coordinator, New York Presbyterian Hospital
Ana Szyld is an Interiors Coordinator at New York Presbyterian Hospital. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from California College of the Arts, and her Master of Arts from Pratt Institute. She is NCIDQ certified and comes to this role with over 10 years of experience.
While working at NBBJ, Ana helped organizations like Macy’s, Standard Bank, and UN Millennium Hotel translate corporate values into sculptural spaces. Ana also worked with the Strategy Group at Perkins+Will, guiding clients like The Rockefeller Foundation, Federal Reserve Bank, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, and Penn Medicine, define how space can help their organization achieve their goals.
Ana is currently putting her expertise to use on projects within the 15M Sq. Ft. at Columbia Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical Medical Centers. She is leads the Furniture Guidelines and is part of the team that reviews design with the goal of ensuring both compliance with the NYP Interior Guidelines and design quality appropriate for a major academic health care destination.
Ellen Taylor, PhD, AIA, EDAC, Vice President for Research, The Center for Health Design
Ellen brings more than 25 years of experience in architecture, research and business to our research team. A registered architect and member of the American Institute of Architects, she has been influential in many of our research efforts ranging from guiding individual Pebble Project Partners to supporting grant-funded initiatives such as programs with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Kresge Foundation, and the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF). She is a nationally and internationally recognized writer and speaker on EBD, patient safety, and development of the business case.
Experienced in both the owner's and consultant’s sides of the table, Ellen has been responsible for conducting design research for the built environment, as well as large-scale program management, capital planning, service standards planning, brand management, developing and extensive cross-departmental coordination.
Ellen has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning and Global Executive MBA degrees from Columbia University and London Business School. Her PhD in design, patient safety and human factors is from Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, under the supervision of Drs. Sue Hignett and Paula Griffiths. Ellen serves on the Facility Guidelines Institute Health Guidelines Revisions Committee (leading the 2014 Safety Risk Assessment subgroup), coordinates special projects with other organizations, serves on our Environmental Standards Council (ESC), and facilitates direction for the CHD Research Coalition volunteers.
David S. Yeh, Sr. Global Solutions Manager - Healthcare, Carrier Corporation, Building Solutions Group
Over 30 years of performance-based sales, out of box marketing, strategic business development, insightful operations, commercialization, and senior leadership experience in global healthcare and medical devices. I currently work for Carrier Corporation as a vertical segment leader for healthcare infrastructure across our business units of HVAC, Refrigeration, Building Automation, Fire, and Security. My role is to strategically partner with healthcare providers to solve their current challenges including reducing the cost of healthcare, improve patient outcomes and satisfaction, help to retain staff by improving their experience and work environment and integrate siloed and disparate healthcare facilities from a corporate IDN perspective across their network.