Sheila Bosch, PhD, LEED AP, EDAC
Director of research for Gresham, Smith and Partners (GS&P; Tampa)

Who she is: Although she’s spent only the last eight of her 20-year-career as a researcher in the healthcare field, Bosch has been prolific during that short time period, contributing original research in a range of areas (including sustainability and evidence-based design), securing research grants, and authoring numerous peer-reviewed and more mainstream articles. She serves as a firm-wide resource for planners and designers, and under her leadership, GS&P became the first EDAC Advocate firm to fulfill its commitment of having 25 percent of its healthcare staff earn EDAC certification. She’s also served on several of The Center for Health Design (CHD) advisory councils, including developing an evidence-based design flooring checklist. She’s a co-chair of CHD’s Research Coalition, a trustee of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health (AIA-AAH) Foundation, and an active member of the AIA-AAH research initiatives committee. In addition to her industry roles, Bosch enjoys mentoring architecture and interior design students at various universities, including Florida State University and the University of Florida, as they incorporate research into their projects.

Year in review: As either the principal investigator or co-principal investigator on projects for GS&P, Bosch has spent the last 12 months publishing peer-reviewed articles based on a number of research projects, including investigating caregiver responses during assisted toileting in four different toilet configurations, and designing for families in the ICU. She also led a study at Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares, Fla., that looked at the effects that a reorientation of where patient beds are located within the patient room had on noise, patient satisfaction scores, falls, nurse time spent in the patient rooms, and privacy-seeking behavior. Additionally, she delivered several technical reports and presentations at colleges and industry events.

What’s next: In the coming year, Bosch turns her investigative eye to studying the impact of design on health outcomes for young and older patients, as well as improving wayfinding for the elderly and other visual or hearing-impaired patients. She’s working with Texas A&M University to study the influence of daylighting on nurses and families in the NICU setting. Bosch also plans to develop tools for applying resilience engineering principles to improve patient safety.

THE HCD 10 (click any winner's name for more information):

  • OwnerDavid Schuller, vice president of medical center expansion and outreach, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center—Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (Columbus, Ohio)
  • ArchitectLaura Poltronieri, principal, Poltronieri Tang & Associates (Swarthmore, Pa.)
  • Association/foundation executiveDouglas Erickson, CEO, Facility Guidelines Institute (Dallas)
  • Interior designerCarolyn BaRoss, design principal, Perkins+Will (New York)
  • ResearcherSheila Bosch, director of research, Gresham, Smith and Partners (Tampa, Fla.)
  • Construction executiveCarlos Gonzalez, project director, Clark/McCarthy, A Joint Venture (Costa Mesa, Calif.)
  • EducatorJames Shraiky, assistant professor, director of healthcare design initiatives, Arizona State University (Tempe, Ariz.)
  • Facility managerMitch Goplen, vice president and director of facility services and construction, Billings Clinic (Billings, Mont.)
  • Rising star: David Ruthven, co-lead and creative director, NXT Health (New York)
  • Firm of the year: Perkins+Will (worldwide)