The stories behind how and why individuals ended up pursuing careers in healthcare design vary greatly. Some are drawn to the field and others stumble into it, but all have a personal story to share and a deeply meaningful reason for staying put. There’s a universal appetite among industry members that’s satiated by doing this work, making professional contributions that matter—whether it’s improving patient and staff experiences, enhancing healthcare operations and outcomes, streamlining the delivery of incredibly complex building projects, or contributing to the growth and prosperity of the greater community. Or in the case of The HCD 10, all of the above.

We launched this annual awards program in 2012 as a way to recognize the individuals behind the industry at large and some of the amazing marks they’ve left as members of their project teams and organizations. The professionals you’ll find profiled on the following pages collectively blew us away with their ability to advance, improve, and innovate this field.

Take the architect who’s a champion of translational medicine, not only delivering to clients the physical space required to truly integrate research and clinical care effectively but educating them on the culture change that an organization must adopt to achieve it. Then there’s the owner who’s embracing an innovative delivery method on one of the largest healthcare construction projects in the country, opening his site—even to competitors—to share the knowledge he’s gained and help push the industry forward. A facility manager pored over HCAHPS scores, fall data, and nurse feedback to build an inpatient unit that solves so many of the small but maddening challenges that detract from the patient experience. And a professor rethinks healthcare design education, challenging the status quo by going beyond academics to immerse students in real-world professional life, budgets and codes included.

An industry that already does so much good is even better thanks to their work, and we’re honored to share their stories with you. The HCD 10 winners were recently celebrated at our second annual Healthcare Design Forum in Cape Neddick, Maine, and will be honored again during the Healthcare Design Expo & Conference taking place Nov. 11-14 in Orlando, Fla.

Over the next two weeks, we’ll profile one winner each day here at HCDmagazine.com (and update the list below with live links for quick access). Watch this space for details on who they are and how they’ve left their mark on the industry. I trust you’ll be just as impressed as we were.

The 2017 HCD 10

Architect: Jon Crane, HDR

Provider/Owner: Panos Lampsas, Sutter Health

Interior Designer: Kari Thorsen, ZGF Architects LLP

Facility Manager: Tim Keenan, St. Anthony Hospital

Educator: William Worn, University if Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Clinician: Manuel Hernandez, CannonDesign and Penn State Health/Milton S. Hershey Medical Center

Building Professional: Becky Olson, Skanska USA

Researcher: Ellen Taylor, The Center for Health Design

Team MVP: Christina Grimes, Ballinger

Outstanding Organization: Lehigh Valley Health Network