To Your Health: It’s Personal

Our consultants and designers have a decidedly personal stake in much of the work they do. Here are five of their stories.

Stalin Vera, Acoustical Consultant: It's one thing to help design a healthcare facility for someone else, but when it's your own child being treated, it becomes super-personal. Our five-year-old son Leo was diagnosed with leukemia almost three years ago, and it completely changed my world.

My family deeply appreciated facilities that were designed and equipped for patient comfort, treatment, care, and recovery. The acoustic design was especially vital, since patient rooms were where we appreciated the privacy, a personal space to talk, and the quietness to try to rest. Technology, too - from the infrastructure to request medical assistance, to the wireless systems to connect personal devices, to the education/information/entertainment system - helped those long hospital days and weeks become just a little more manageable.

Thankfully our brave little Leo has shown resilience and strength. There's still one more year left of treatment to go, but we're certainly mountains ahead of where we were in the early days. I've joined a Team in Training for a 72-mile cycling event in Lake Tahoe on June 2022 to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society so that other families can benefit from their assistance programs like mine has.

Dan Nelson, Systems Designer, Phoenix: My buddy thinks hospitals are just "data centers with patients." I can't say I agree with that rather simplistic assessment.

The Mayo Clinic Phoenix is likely the most complex building I have ever worked on. The $312M, 225k SF Proton Therapy and Mayo Clinic Building houses the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. For the Campus Advancement portion, we helped design the Structured Cable, Paging, Nurse Call, Anesthesia Call, Access Control, CATV, Security, Room Occupancy Monitor Systems, Code Blue, and Patient Tracking.

From the IoT perspective, with over 1,900 devices and sensors per floor, hospitals really are on the forefront of smart buildings. When it was finally completed and commissioned, I looked back on the project not only with relief, but with immense pride. For me, I love the challenge and complexity that is healthcare.

And so re-thinking my buddy's initial comment, since the data center to run the proton therapy is larger than the entire eBay Data Center in Phoenix…he might just have a point.

Christopher Foster, Principal Consultant, Washington DC: My sister is an ER nurse, and I am always talking to her about her patients, what technology she uses, and what new technologies might help her be more efficient caring for her patients, giving them the best treatment available. My mom battled with cancer for two years, so when looking at patient care and the patient/family experience, it's as personal as it's ever been. Understanding how technology can help facilitate a positive experience for both the patient and their families is vital when meeting with new clients and working on new projects.

It is truly a pleasure and an honor to be a part of this work that has such a huge and positive impact on the patients and communities these buildings serve.

Kelly Stumpf, Principal Consultant, Denver: Growing up in a remote part of Wyoming, I realized how vital access to quality healthcare is to people, especially those in rural locations. I have loved the opportunity, provided through acoustical design, to directly impact patient experience. Throughout my career I have been lucky to work on several healthcare projects, but one of my favorites was the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center.

It was a large expansion of the aged existing facility that brought much-needed access to healthcare within the tribal community and gave increased practicums opportunities to the nearby nursing schools. This project was a great example of how quality rural healthcare can be deployed. Just don't get me started about government healthcare projects. That would not be pretty.

Paul Dooley, Principal Consultant, Pittsburgh: My dad was in the Navy, and virtually all my in-laws were in the military. They served in WWII, Korea, Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo. Being asked to help the VA Hospital take care of our vets means a lot to me.

The VA Ann Arbor project was particularly special, as we truly modernized the facility. Designing and overseeing the installation of a new backbone cabling from the data center to all 13 buildings and 90+ telecom rooms, we delivered a significant, lasting impact on their communications and security. In the end, we touched every space on campus that had existing data/voice drops or required new data/voice drops, including administrative and patient care spaces. And that feels good.

Acoustical Consultant Stalin Vera INCE Bd. Cert., LEED Green Assoc. based in Miami was formerly a research assistant for Taylor Guitars. He recently wrote The Harmony of Architecture and Acoustics. Systems Designer Dan Nelson RCDD, CTS-D lives in Phoenix and brings personal design experience from Google to Kuwait University to the Super Bowl. Principal Consultant Christopher Foster CTS, RCDD lives and works in metropolitan Washington DC, but oversees clinical projects from Michigan to North Carolina and beyond. Principal Consultant Kelly Stumpf PMP, CAHED in Denver was recognized as an Engineering News-Record Mountain Region Top 20 Under 40. Principal Consultant Paul Dooley RCDD, CTS-D is a competitive downhill skier, an avid sailor, and lives on a horse farm near Pittsburgh…with no horses. See Power & IT: Better Coordination = Better Outcomes

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