Episode 66, Anthony Treu AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, Principal and Healthcare Practice Leader at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)

Healthcare Interior Design 2.0

"When somebody shows you who they truly are, believe them the first time. From the very beginning, we took Emory at their word when they said they wanted to design and build a cancer center never before seen or imagined." —Anthony Treu on The Healthcare Interior Design 2.0 podcast

Step into a world where healthcare spaces nurture healing, empower caregivers, and transform the patient experience. In this inspiring episode, host Cheryl Janis sits down with visionary healthcare architect Anthony Treu, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, Principal and Healthcare Practice Leader at Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), who is revolutionizing how we think about healthcare design.

From a fourth-grader sketching houses to the one of the architects behind award-winning cancer centers at SOM, Anthony shares the remarkable journey of creating spaces that combine cutting-edge innovation with profound human comfort. He and his teams’ work on the groundbreaking Emory Winship Cancer Center in Atlanta, Georgia shows us what's possible when we dare to reimagine healthcare delivery from the ground up.

Discover how Anthony and his team are creating healthcare environments that feel less like institutions and more like sanctuaries of healing, where high-tech innovation meets human-centered design. This conversation will leave you believing in the power of architecture to transform the healthcare experience.

Learn more about Anthony Treu and SOM's pioneering healthcare architecture projects at: https://www.som.com/.

SOM partnered with May Architecture, https://www.mayarchitecture.com/ on the Emory Winship Cancer Center project. Anthony credits this collaboration as a cornerstone of the project's success, combining SOM's innovative approach with May Architecture's specialized clinical design expertise.

In this enlightening conversation, Cheryl and Anthony explore:

• The revolutionary spirit behind Emory Winship Cancer Center, where traditional cancer care was completely reimagined to put patients first

• How rethinking the basic layout of cancer care reduced treatment planning from weeks to a single day

• The stunning results of patient-centered design: registration times cut in half, satisfaction scores soaring into the 90th percentile, and staff retention improving by 10%

• The beautiful balance of creating spaces that feel both technologically advanced and warmly inviting

• How questioning core assumptions – like "Do we really need waiting rooms?" – can lead to breakthrough innovations

• The future of healthcare spaces, where rooms might quietly monitor vital signs without patients even knowing

• Anthony's philosophy of approaching each project with fresh eyes, free from the weight of convention

• Stories from some of SOM’s global projects in Egypt and Kazakhstan that reveal universal truths about human-centered healthcare design

• The exciting frontier of healthcare design, where ambient technology and passive monitoring could transform the patient experience

• How collaboration and trust between architects, engineers, and visionary clients can turn seemingly impossible dreams into reality

• The power of asking better questions rather than just designing better solutions

Whether you're a healthcare professional, designer, architect, or someone who cares about improving the healthcare experience, this conversation will inspire you to think differently about what's possible in healthcare design. Join us for a masterclass in how thoughtful design can transform not just buildings, but the entire experience of giving and receiving care. Listen to the episode now!

Shout Outs

1. May Architecture (00:24:11)

• Described as cornerstone partner for Emory project

2. CBR Healthcare (00:25:19)

• Program manager for Emory project

3. Batson Cook (00:25:24)

• Contractor for Emory project

4. Newcombe and Boyd (00:25:24)

• Engineering partners

Featured Projects:

1. Emory Winship Cancer Center - Atlanta, Georgia (00:00:48)
2. Egypt's National Cancer Institute (00:44:23)
3. Almaty's International Medical Center (00:44:27)
4. Roper St. Francis Healthcare - Charleston, South Carolina (00:48:55)

Industry Partners

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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