Executive advisors

Blair L Sadler is a senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and a member of the faculty at the UCSD School of Medicine and Rady School of Management. He served as president and CEO of the Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego from July 1980 until July 2006. Under his leadership, Rady Children’s was the first pediatric hospital in the United States to win the Ernest A Codman Award for its work in developing clinical pathways. He has written extensively on the compelling business case for evidence-based design and was the lead author of Fable 2.0: the Compelling Business Case for Building Optimal Hospitals published in 2011. He is co-author of Ten Rules for 21st Century Healthcare: a US Perspective in Creating Healthy, Healing Environments. He is also a strategic advisor to Health Care without Harm and their Healthy Hospital Initiative. They are applying lessons learned from the IHI 100,000 Lives Campaign to environmental sustainability that has led to a national cost saving campaign to enroll 2000 hospitals that was launched 2012.

Dr John Zeisel has a background that includes sociology and architecture. He received a Ph.D. from Columbia University and a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard's Graduate School of Design. Dr. Zeisel focuses his attention at Hearthstone on new development, design, teamwork and research. He serves on committees for the Massachusetts Alzheimer's Association, the New York City Office of Aging's Alzheimer's Unit, the International Healthcare Institute, and Centre for Health Design. John has been on the faculty of Harvard University's Department of Architecture, and received a fellowship at the National Institute for Advanced Studies near The Hague in the Netherlands. He has also taught at Yale and McGill Universities and at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. In 1994 he lectured at the University of Minnesota Architecture School as its Cass Gilbert Visiting Professor. Before cofounding Hearthstone, John consulted to the senior housing industry, carrying out needs analyses, strategic planning, facility design programs, design review and market feasibility studies. Dr Zeisel has carried out research into the needs of seniors through basic and applied research, including post-occupancy evaluations and policy research studies. He was Principal Investigator on a three-year National Institute on Aging study to determine the relationship between environmental design characteristics in Alzheimer's Special Care Units and health and well-being outcomes of residents.

Prof John Cole, an architect and health design champion, is an honorary professor at the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, Queen's University Belfast. John retired in June 2013 from the role of deputy secretary and chief estates officer DHSSPS (2008-2013), having previously acted as chief executive of the Health Estates Agency (2003-2008). During that period, he was responsible for the oversight and implementation of in excess of £3 billion of capital expenditure, covering the full range of health and social care facilities – from major regional centres of excellence and new acute hospitals, to community hospitals, mental health facilities and primary and community health buildings. John is currently procurement champion for RIBA and was IMPACT assessor in REF2014. John's involvement at Queen's University Belfast's School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering will strengthen its expertise in healthcare design and procurement systems that support design quality across public-sector buildings. John's inaugural professorial lecture, 'Architecture: the art of healing', was given on 19 November 2014. From 2008 to 2012, John was chairman of the European Health Property Network, and in 2013, the Queen appointed him as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his contribution to the development of health infrastructure.

Cliff is leading Niagara Health through the planning, design and implementation of the South Niagara Hospital project, allowing Niagara Health to position themselves for the future. Cliff’s professional roles included Senior Architect at the Ontario Government, Senior Hospital Executive, and a practicing Architect. Cliff volunteers his time to boards, committees, competition juries, professional task groups, and advises on educational programs, all focused on health and design. Cliff is currently the Director of the International Union of Architects – Public Health Group (UIA-PHG), a Founding Director of the Canadian Centre for Healthcare Facilities (CCHF); and the Chair and Vice-Chair on a number of Canadian Standards Association (CSA) committees. Cliff is also an international speaker on health and design.

Dr Diana Anderson is a licensed architect (Order of Architects of Quebec, Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Member) and a physician trained in Internal Medicine (Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital). Dr. Anderson is a past recipient of the AIA Arthur Tuttle Jr. Graduate Fellowship in Health Facility Planning and Design, the Tradewell Fellowship in healthcare design awarded by WHR Architects in Houston, Texas and the immediate Past Chair of the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s ICU Design Committee. As a dochitectTM, Dr. Anderson combines educational and professional experience in both medicine and architecture, in order to truly understand the patient, visitor and clinical staff experience within the healthcare environment. She has worked on hospital design projects within the United States, Canada and Australia, specializing in medical planning of inpatient units, specifically intensive care environments. Dr. Anderson is currently a Medical Planner at Stantec Architecture in New York City.

Jonathan Erskine is the executive director of the European Health Property Network (www.euhpn.eu) and a researcher at the Centre for Public Policy and Health (CPPH), School for Medicine, Pharmacy and Health, Durham University, UK. His research interests are in the areas of health service reform, the boundaries between primary and secondary care, and the relationship between the design of health service systems and the built healthcare environment. Jonathan has had a long association with the European Health Property Network, and until recently was also a non-executive director with NHS Stockton Primary Care Trust, and Vice-Chair of the Board. He has co-authored chapters in two books, ‘Investing in Hospitals of the Future’, and ‘Capital Investment for Health: case studies from Europe’, produced in collaboration with the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. His research at the CPPH, Durham University, has recently focused on the use of Lean in healthcare systems, particularly in relation to the ‘North East Transformation System’ – a region-wide quality improvement programme that encompasses commissioning and provider NHS organisations. The report on this research was published in December 2014.

Chris Shaw is chair of Architects for Health and company founder of Medical Architecture, Christopher has an unrivalled understanding of the healthcare sector. He is a skilled leader with more than 20 years’ experience, underpinned by an ethos of innovation, evidence-based design principles, clinical service and human experience across healthcare design. With both strategic and practical expertise across acute and forensic mental health and academic research of medical facilities, Christopher’s particular expertise lies in developing strategic planning, enabling design to effectively enhance clinical outputs and the human experience of medical care. Applying principles of responsive design, Christopher provides a lateral and inclusive platform for strategy, communication and reporting for clients, stakeholders and clinical staff within a project.

Warren is the national director of the HAMES SHARLEY Health Groupin Perth, Western Australia, with responsibilities for all the healthcare projects undertaken in Australia and New Zealand. In addition to his formal qualifications in architecture, Warren has a Masters Degree in health administration and a post-graduate diploma in project facilitation. Warren is a member of the Board of the Research Centre for the Built Environment & Health at the University of Western Australia. From 2005-12 he was a Visiting Professor in health facility planning and design in the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of New South Wales and until December 2010, he was the independent Board member of the UNSW Research Centre for Health Assets Australasia (CHAA). Warren also represents Australia on the international work group on health facility planning and design established by the International Union of Architects, is a member of the Advisory Board for Health Environments Research & Design, and chairs the Special Interest Group for health facility planning and design of the Australasian College of Health Service Management. Warren is a former State and National President of the Australian Institute of Architects and a former National Chair of the Australian Council of Built Environment Design Professions and during 2009 was appointed as a member of the Order of Australia for his services to architecture and healthcare planning and design.

Kate is a passionate nutritionist with over 20 years experience in nutritional speaking, have written 7 books, and had my own TV programme. She is an educator of nutrition, offering inspirational change management through upgraded energy and offering sensible changes around food. Kate also runs The Nutrition Network which is a fantastic platform for sharing products, knowledge and expertise acting as an information hub for the 1500 nutritionist members.

Coen van den Wijngaart is an architect, entrepreneur and strategic business developer. With about 20 years of experience Coen's professional focus has been on health and wellbeing in the built environment and how strategic concepts translate into sustainable environments and habitats. Nowadays Coen works as acquisition & business development manager for Archipelago Architects, to create contextual and sustainable architecture to better live, care, work and learn.

Lord Crisp was Chief Executive of the English NHS and Permanent Secretary of the UK Department of Health from 2000-2006. He now works and writes mainly on global health with a focus on Africa. He advises and collaborates with SALUS on stimulating new ideas and thinking around health creation – promoting the causes of health – and improving human and planetary health globally. In 2020, SALUS published Lord Crisp's book, 'Health is made at home, hospitals are for repairs'. His latest book, 'Turning the world upside down again' - global health in a time of pandemics, climate change and political turmoil' will be published in March 2022.

Richard has over 20 years’ experience in healthcare. Following a Masters in Health Economics Richard worked as a Research Fellow at the Health Economics Consortium University of York. From academia Richard moved into consulting with Price Waterhouse, leading a Health Economics team nationally. In 1991 Richard was a founding partner of SDC Consulting a niche healthcare consulting group focusing on strategy, operations improvement and investment appraisal. Richard grew the team to be a major healthcare advisory group in the UK and sold the company in 2003. He then founded Infracare, a specialist provider/funder of healthcare infrastructure, deliveing over £200 million of specialist healthcare infrastructure. Infracare was sold to an investment house in 2007. Richard has gone on to establish Archus, an Advisory, Development and Investment company focused on healthcare infrastructure. Throughout his career Richard has focused on his principal interest of the delivery of high quality infrastructure in healthcare and harnessing the best of public and private sector thinking in the planning, design and delivery of new healthcare buildings. He is also a senior associate of the Nuffield Trust.

Vivienne Reiss is an arts consultant and has a background working in galleries and museums. She is passionate about the role of art in creating better places and enhancing environments through co design processes. She is a member of the NHS National Performance Advisory Group: Arts Heritage and Design and a trustee for London Arts and Health.

Vivienne is currently developing arts strategies for the Cambridge Children’s Hospital and Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. She was joint Head of GOSH Arts where she led the integrated art programme in relation to new clinical buildings. She devised art strategies for Douglas Bennett House and Pears Maudsley Centre and in her role as Visual Arts Development Manager at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity, she oversaw the arts strategy across the Trust.