Healthcare Design - November 2019 - 56

AS BOTH a registered architect and interior

designer at Wilmot Sanz, MaryAnn Wilmot
leverages the two disciplines to elevate the
quality of design and delivery for complex
healthcare projects. Her background has
also empowered her to take on a role in business development, using this well-rounded
perspective to better address a wide range of
issues for a variety of healthcare systems. Additionally, she's currently engaged with the
industry and community as a board member
of the Women in Healthcare Maryland Chapter, guiding the development of new programs
for the organization.

H E A L T H C A R E D E S I G N : W H AT
DREW YOU TO A CAREER IN

MaryAnn Wilmot
RA, NCIDQ, architect,
interior designer,
Wilmot Sanz
(Gathersburg, Md.)

Wilmot: As a third-generation healthcare
designer, I was exposed to the industry at a
young age. However, it was my first healthcare
project as a summer intern that truly ignited
my interest in this field. The complexity of the
projects and the ability to create a healing environment that impacts the lives of both the
patients and families while addressing the
needs of the staff was a challenge that I was
interested in pursuing. My passion for healthcare design did not result from one particular
event; instead, it evolved from the layered impact of multiple experiences-working on my
first healthcare project as an interior designer
(and later, with fresh perspective as an architect), being a visitor to a loved one receiving
care, and hearing positive feedback from users and patients after my first major project
opened its doors. It was through these experiences that I began to understand how, as a
healthcare designer, my work truly impacts a
broad, diverse range of stakeholders.

Johns Hopkins Skip
Viragh Outpatient
Cancer Building,
Baltimore

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
HEALTHCARE DESIGN INDUSTRY IN
2019?

I believe providing the community with good access to a range of healthcare facilities will always
be an important issue. However, lately, there
is an acute need to better address the design of
behavioral health environments. Creating safe
environments for patients dealing with mental
illness and the staff providing the care to these
patients is an issue the healthcare design community must continue to advance.

W H AT ' S O N E R E C E N T P R O J E C T
T H AT Y O U ' R E M O S T P R O U D O F ?

I was a member of the team working on the
Johns Hopkins Skip Viragh Outpatient Cancer Building, which was completed in spring
2018. This project was a newly constructed,
184,000-square-foot facility designed to simplify the care process for patients by creating a single destination for cancer diagnosis
and treatment on the Johns Hopkins Hospital's East Baltimore campus. By integrating clinical care and research under one roof,
the building embodies team-based precision
medicine, providing more opportunities for
clinical trials and offering innovative cancer
treatments and supportive care. My participation on this project included involvement
with the design development and documenta-

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tion on to construction administration and furniture drawings and specifications.
My work on this, and other highly complex
healthcare projects, has reinforced the importance of collaboration and empathy at every
stage of the design and construction process.
Good design is only as successful as its execution, and this requires the entire team (owner,
designers, and contractor) to coordinate carefully and proactively solve issues. If all commit
to listening, open solution-oriented communication, and striving to achieve the client's vision,
the process will go much more smoothly.

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 ?

We need to develop a new design paradigm that
is based on comprehensively improving the
well-being for behavioral health patients, family, and staff. This is "destination healthcare"
that needs to be safe and flexible, promote a
healing environment, and adapt to a range of
patients and treatments. Exceeding regulatory
requirements and standards isn't enough. We
need to better engage with the behavioral health
community-patients, caregivers, and patient/
family advisory committees-to leverage their
knowledge to improve design quality.

HCDMAGAZINE.COM

HALKIN MASON

HEALTHCARE DESIGN?
http://www.HCDMAGAZINE.COM
Healthcare Design - November 2019

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