Healthcare Design - November 2019 - 52

ARIANA HALLENBECK joined Perkins and Will
as a healthcare designer right after graduating
from the University of Texas in 2016. During
the past three years, she's worked with client
HCA Healthcare on projects including several
Medical City institutions around the DallasFort Worth area. Those projects span in size
and scope from emergency, imaging, and surgery to lab, pharmacy, and patient care units.
She also serves as co-champion for the firm's
diversity and inclusion committee, where she's
had the opportunity to share her passion for
diversifying the architecture industry.
H E A L T H C A R E D E S I G N : W H AT D R E W
YOU TO A CAREER IN HEALTHCARE
DESIGN?

Ariana Hallenbeck
LEED AP BD+C,
Arch II, Perkins and
Will (Dallas)

Hallenbeck: One summer, an opportunity
arose to intern for Ascension Seton during
the planning and design of Dell Seton Medical Center, a teaching hospital for the University of Texas at Austin's debut medical campus.
Although at the time I knew very little about
healthcare design, I was excited to learn more
about the impact design could have on transforming both the patient and provider experience. After touring one of their children's
medical centers, my perspective on healthcare
architecture was completely transformed.
I realized that hospitals weren't just places
people go to in emergencies or for the occasional exam; they are the backdrops for some
of life's biggest moments and can also serve as
classrooms, playgrounds, and even extended
homes. I loved the idea of being able to renew
people's outlook on their healthcare experience and increase the accessibility of quality
healthcare design.

HCA Medical City
Dallas Heart Hospital,
Dallas

W H AT ' S O N E R E C E N T P R O J E C T

proved to be very stressful, I had a great support
system within the team, and it was ultimately a
very empowering experience to be entrusted
with such a significant role so early in my career.
I gained an immense amount of knowledge, but
my greatest takeaway is that the key to a successful project lies in the entire team's ability to
effectively collaborate and work together to find
solutions to any challenge that may arise.
W H AT D O Y O U T H I N K I S T H E N U M B E R
O N E I S S U E FA C I N G T H E H E A LT H C A R E
DESIGN INDUSTRY IN 2019?

Technology is at the forefront of transforming every industry, healthcare included. Today,
more people than ever before are shopping
around for their healthcare experience, and
rapidly developing technological advancements
place increased pressure on healthcare providers to remain competitive. Simultaneously, we
are seeing owners move toward design standardization as they look for opportunities to increase
profitability and efficiency and provide more
consistent results across projects.

T H AT Y O U ' R E M O S T P R O U D O F ?

52

NOVEMBER 2019

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

W H A T ' S O N E I D E A Y O U H AV E F O R
O V E R C O M I N G T H AT P R O B L E M ?

While healthcare service thrives on increased
standardization to ensure a high level of care
is met, designers and owners should plan for
the inevitability of changing floor plans, equipment, and operations by placing flexibility
at the forefront of the design process and incorporating more multipurpose space. Fitting into a preformed standard can be an even
greater challenge for existing facilities with
severely outdated infrastructure that can't easily accommodate the needs of modern systems.
When flexibility is built into the design, owners
can more rapidly revise standards as needed,
which in turn allows facilities to more quickly
respond to rapidly changing needs that arise
from technology advancements.

PERKINS AND WILL

My project at the Medical City Dallas Heart
and Spine Hospitals was a major renovation
and reopening that serves as a surgery-focused
extension to the existing Medical City Dallas
campus. It included a robust program of new
cardiac catheterization and electrophysiology
labs, heart and spine care, and hybrid operating rooms. As construction was ongoing and
major design revisions to the surgery department spaces were taking place, the manager
of the project had to take an unexpected leave
of absence. Despite having no previous construction administration experience, I worked
diligently with our architectural team, consultants, contractor, client, and numerous
vendors to ensure construction could continue successfully and the target opening date
would not be jeopardized. Although at times it
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