The COVID-19 pandemic has upended so many aspects of operations in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, from sanitizing and supply chains to HVAC systems and air filtration. It also has prompted architects and managers to rethink the long-discussed connection between facility design and patient health.

For Anjali Joseph, an endowed chair in architecture and health design and research and a professor at Clemson University, the process includes a manager or even a nurse who might not know what the latest and the greatest designs are, according to the Upstate Business Journal.

Researchers like Joseph could come in to provide feedback. Among the topics researchers could think about would be: What are the health care client’s needs? How do researchers support the work of healthcare workers? How do they improve the quality of life for the patients or the staff? How do they keep them safe?

During the pandemic, the impact on designing healthcare spaces and workplaces is already being felt, and there is a huge question of social distancing in the workplace, she says. Are they going to be open spaces? Are they going to be enclosed? Do we need some sort of barriers around it?

Overall, Joseph says people should understand how architecture is “an inherent part of everything,” and they should be aware of that and to work for healthier workspaces.

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