Name: Natalie Miovski Hagerty

Award: The HCD10: Rising Star, 2013

Then: Principal, national director, healthcare practice, EwingCole (Philadelphia)

Now: Director, facilities planning, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP; Philadelphia)

What she’s been up to: Completed design projects for Penn Medicine, Geisinger Health System, and St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children at EwingCole and became director of facilities planning at CHOP in 2015.

What’s one thing about the evolving healthcare design landscape that excites you?

The multi-disciplinary focus on the patient and family experience excites me because it’s about looking at the entire picture, from scheduling the appointment to parking your car to the cleanliness of an exam room to the comfortableness of a new mom’s bed in a NICU room. I’m excited that facilities has a place at the table and can be a part of affecting this experience.

What’s one of the biggest changes you’ve seen in the design of healthcare spaces since you won your award, and how has it affected what you do?

The incorporation of process improvement/improvement science to our profession. In the design and construction industry, we’ve been seeing more “Lean-ing” in the work we do, but what’s exciting to me is the process improvement and evolution of the clinical care model that’s occurring within health systems. The delivery of care is being reconstructed in such a way that patient outcomes, safety, and satisfaction are closely aligned with flexibility, efficiency, and the environment.

What’s on your radar screen in 2016?

CHOP has experienced significant growth over the past few years and one of my undertakings is to understand where we are today and where are we going from a facilities perspective. I’ll be working on improving patient and family experience and incorporating process improvement techniques within our facilities—and, of course, working with a multidisciplinary team to understand “what’s next.”

For more Q+As with past recipients of Healthcare Design’s professional awards programs, check out “Master Class.”