45: Part 1; Sharon Woodworth, FAIA ACHA EDAC LEED, Studio Leader National Healthcare Practice at HED

Healthcare Interior Design 2.0

In Part 1 of today’s episode, host Cheryl Janis speaks with Sharon Woodworth, FAIA ACHA EDAC LEED, Studio Leader National Healthcare Practice at HED, about Sharon’s vast and prolific career in healthcare. Sharon is both a practicing healthcare architect shaping her practice at HED into a national firm, and an associate professor at UCSF teaching healthcare architecture to physicians and nurses who want to be a CEO in healthcare. Sharon is also a Regent for the American College of Healthcare Architects Board, and her background that led to this has evolved out of her experience as a patient throughout her childhood, and later her career as a pediatric and neonatal nurse. On today’s episode, you will hear Sharon’s personal and professional life stories that have led her to her current work in healthcare, and what the current face of healthcare architecture looks like from her vantage point.

Learn more about Sharon Woodworth and HED by visiting https://www.hed.design/

In Part 1 of Cheryl’s conversation with Sharon Woodworth they discuss:

• Sharon has said, “I was born in a hospital and I grew up in a hospital.” What does this mean exactly and how did this experience inform Sharon’s many careers in healthcare?
• As a pediatric neonatal nurse for many years, Sharon has said she was gifted with the experience of “seeing behind the curtain.” What does this mean?
• Why did Sharon leave her nursing career and how did she find architecture?
• When Sharon studied art at the University of Texas, Austin, her art teacher who was also a Yale architecture professor (and the same person who taught Maya Lin the concept of The Scars Upon the Earth) said something to Sharon that would alter the direction of her career.
• How did Sharon end up in healthcare architecture?
• When did Sharon realize that making a little change from an architect's perspective can impact thousands of lives?
• Sharon has worked for various prominent healthcare architecture firms before going solo and then joining up with HED. What lessons has she learned from this time in her life?
• Sharon is an associate professor at UCSF teaching healthcare architecture to physicians and nurses who want to be a CEO in healthcare. What is this course and how did Sharon end up teaching it?

The world is changing quickly. The Center for Health Design is committed to providing the healthcare design and senior living design industries with the latest research, best practices and innovations. The Center can help you solve today’s biggest healthcare challenges and make a difference in care, safety, medical outcomes, and the bottom line. Find out more at healthdesign.org.

Additional support for this podcast comes from our industry partners:

• The American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers
• The Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design

Learn more about how to become a Certified Healthcare Interior Designer® by visiting the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers at: https://aahid.org/.

Connect to a community interested in supporting clinician involvement in design and construction of the built environment by visiting The Nursing Institute for Healthcare Design at https://www.nursingihd.com/.

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