Article on Lean Design and Evidence-Based Design

I was quoted / interviewed in this piece that was published by daSILVEA Architects: “Re-thinking Healthcare: Improving Patient Care through Design.” My friends Naida Grunden and Charles Hagood (co-authors of  Lean-Led Hospital Design, which was just awarded the Shingo professional publication award) were also interviewed in the piece.

One thing I said that I'd like to clarify: “Lean is not always an easy sell, it's a leap of faith.” By that, I mean that the cost of using Lean design might be known (the staff time, etc.) but the benefits (cost savings during construction and over time) are a projection – they aren't known with certainty. So, it's a leap of faith (but not one that's excessively risky). What's risky, to me, is building hospitals the way they've always been built!