The College of Architecture and Design at UT Knoxville kicks off a new lecture series about health care design this week. The series, Designing Environments for Health, begins Thursday with a presentation by health care strategist, Marc Suave.
Suave, who works for Gresham Smith and Partners (GSP), will lecture at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 15, in room 109 of the Art + Architecture Building. GSP has sponsored his presentation.
His lecture, "The Future of Health Care in America," will explore factors and historical trends of health care in this country. He will examine health care growth and investment and how changing patient acuity, disease rates and staff shortages will impact the work environment.
Suave holds a master’s degree in business administration and has spent years in health care planning and consulting. He has worked with hospitals across the country on process improvement and organizational development, culminating with responsibility for all capital allocation and space planning.
"Marc reveals an astonishing view of the forces affecting health care and their impact on the medical profession, health care delivery and the built environment," said B.J. Miller, lecture series organizer and facilitator for the college.
"Diseases such as diabetes, cancer, obesity and heart disease have reached epidemic proportions in this country. Facility design is making a difference in the quality of care and patient outcomes as well as the financial performance of these institutions. I’m excited about this lecture series and the trends it will explore," she said.
The next lecture, "The Healing Environment" by Flem Smith, is on Feb. 5. Smith, an architect and co-founder of GSP, will explore how an environment can promote healing.
The visiting lecturers, in addition to their presentations, will involve the students in some exploratory creative exercises, such as designing their own retirement environment. The course also will include interactive activities, such as tours of medical facilities, to explore key wellness indicators.
The students will be working on a research project throughout the semester that will stimulate further discussion within the university of the role design plays in healing and wellness.
Continuing architectural education credit can be earned at each of these lectures.
The lecture series also is viewable over the Internet both live and in archive form. See the College of Architecture and Design’s Web site, http://www.utk.edu/.