Healthcare Design Rapid Response Team

VINCE AVALLONE
^{vince.avallone [at] smithgroup.com (Email)  |  (415) 365-3485}
Expertise: Acute and Ambulatory Care, Operational and Facility Programming/Planning
Vince Avallone leads the development of SmithGroup's national health planning practice. He currently serves as President of the American College of Healthcare Architects, which has worked with the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health to study and collect industry-wide best practices in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vince has more than 25 years of experience in healthcare programming, planning and architecture, with a special focus in lean operations and patient and staff experience.
 

CINDY BECKHAM
^{cindy.beckham [at] smithgroup.com (Email)  |  (202) 974-4566}
Expertise: Telemedicine, Acute and Ambulatory Care, Behavioral Health
As a senior health strategist, Cindy Beckham has developed innovative operational and facility processes for leading health systems across the country, and is a recognized expert in the optimization of health delivery through design. Her work on both the client and design sides of the table provide her with invaluable insight into the integration of research, technology, design and strategy to improve population health, with specialized expertise in telemedicine. As former Executive Director of Facility Design for Mercy Health, Cindy helped create Mercy Virtual, the world's first bed-less hospital dedicated to telehealth.
 

ANDREW BRUMBACH
^{andrew.brumbach [at] smithgroup.com (Email)  |  (617) 502-3592}
Expertise: Infection Control, Acute and Ambulatory Care
An experienced planner, architect, and manager, Andrew Brumbach is a leading expert in design strategies for infection control. He serves on the Healthcare Associated Infections Organization, a Boston-based collaborative of provider and industry leaders who collectively work to minimize and eradicate the spread of HAIs through the use of architecture, design and construction, including the impact on operations and maintenance. Andrew led the development of the SmithGroup Smart Patient Room prototype for infection control and our Path Forward: Pandemic Response Framework.
 

MATTHEW COTTON
^{matthew.cotton [at] smithgroup.com (Email)  |  (617) 502-3644}
Expertise: Acute Care, Academic Medical Centers
Matt Cotton is an experienced architect and planner who has helped national health systems and academic medical centers adapt healthcare delivery platforms to implement next-generation care models. Matt is a co-author of the SmithGroup Path Forward: Pandemic Response Framework, a decision-making tool designed to assist providers in assessing, prioritizing and integrating industry best practices during and beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Matt has used this tool to provide patient and staff safety and infection control recommendations for several Commonwealth of Massachusetts Public Hospitals.
 

ALISON FAECHER
^{alison.faecher [at] smithgroup.com (Email)  |  (617) 502-3492}
Expertise: Interior Design, Senior Living
Alison Faecher is an award-winning interior designer whose approach to design is based on a unique blend of creativity, empathy and expertise. With experience encompassing acute, outpatient, cancer, and women's services as well as senior living environments, Alison is part of the team that developed SmithGroup's Path Forward: Pandemic Response Framework. She also serves as co-chair of the American Society of Interior Designer's Adaptive Living Task Force, studying changes in senior care, adaptive and multigenerational family living during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
 

GEORGE KARIDIS
^{george.karidis [at] smithgroup.com (Email)  |  (313) 442-8120}
Expertise: Heating, Air Conditioning and Ventilation Systems
When it comes to engineering innovation, George Karidis is a recognized thought leader in low-entropy integrated design, engaging heat recovery, central heat pumps, thermal storage, geo-exchange, chilled boxes, and needlepoint bipolar ionization. A mechanical engineer, he developed a patented linear underfloor air distribution system and was the lead designer of the first large-scale chilled beam installation in the U.S. He published one of the earliest papers on the importance of climate-informed increases in relative humidity to slow the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and improve the human response.
 

ANN KENYON
^{ann.kenyon [at] smithgroup.com (Email)target="_blank"  |  (313) 442-8240}
Expertise: Acute and Ambulatory Care, Cancer Care, Infection Control
Ann Kenyon is known for her work in very specialized and technical healthcare environments, specifically acute care, ambulatory care, cancer care, clinical research and education. Ann focuses on the disruptors influencing healthcare delivery today and in the future, and is knowledgeable in the complex issues of population health, consumerism, technology and workforce engagement. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, she has been studying the impacts that the crisis has had on the built environment, and is exploring potential design solutions and interventions that will help clients navigate a changed future.
 

TYLER KREHLIK
^{tyler.krehlik [at] smithgroup.com (Email)target="_blank"  |  (415) 365-3418}
Expertise: Healthcare Sustainability and Resilience
As an architect and sustainability advisor for the SmithGroup Health practice, Tyler Krehlik is focused on developing resilient buildings and environments that are positively enriching to human health, the environment, climate and social equity. Tyler has more than 20 years of experience on healthcare, research, wellness and civic projects, with an emphasis on ambulatory and cancer facilities. He speaks and teaches on sustainable healthcare principles, including courses at Harvard GSD. He is a member of the National AIA Materials Knowledge Working Group and was just elected to the Board of Directors for the Health Product Declaration Collaborative.
 

MATT RICHTER
^{matt.richter [at] smithgroup.com (Email)target="_blank"  |  (415) 365-3413}
Expertise: Acute and Ambulatory Care, Ambulatory Surgery, Emergency
Matt Richter has provided planning and design services for more than 50 million sf of healthcare facilities across the U.S. and internationally. Matt continuously advocates for a balance of lean operational planning and quality design, matching innovation solutions to the culture of people and place. He brings specialized expertise in the planning and design of emergency departments, clinical and surgical platforms, and ambulatory care facilities. He is currently developing a new prototype for advanced ambulatory surgical centers, in response to industry shifts pre- and post-COVID.