February 2023
By Sara Marberry — A few weeks ago I read a fascinating article by HOK’s Director of Workplace Kay Sargent in which she said that creating great spaces with lots of amenities isn’t the key to getting people back to the office. Instead, the workplace must be repositioned as a “destination that enhances how people work and enables people to reconnect, rebuild social capital and benefit from being together.”

Given that, are people the new amenity in the healthcare office workplace, as Kay suggests? Of course, we all know that people aren’t amenities, so this metaphor may be heard for some of you to embrace. And I could argue that for those hospitals and health systems that haven’t paid much attention to creating great spaces with lots of amenities for administrative staff, the healthcare office workplace is the new amenity.


The first facilities industry event in 2023 returns to Baltimore with NFMT 2023, the National Facility Management and Technology Conference & Expo. The McMorrow Reports & FMLink have been attending for at least 20 years, and we know our readers should, too. 
Healthcare facilities managers, executives, engineers and allied professionals will gather March 21-23 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland. Both the educational conference sessions, starting on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and ending on Thursday at 4:45 p.m., and the expo floor are bountiful with exhibitors from all segments of FM. 

Of note for the healthcare built environment sector, are the following sessions: Preventative and Deferred Maintenance Reality Check: How Accurate is Your Equipment Inventory with David Trask, national director, ARC Facilities; Facilities 2023: Burning Questions, Stone-Cold Solutions with Andy Gager, CMRP, CPIM, CAMA, AMG Consulting, along with Darrell X. Rounds, Global Workplace Risk Mitigation, General Motors; Improving Indoor Air Quality with UVC Disinfection Systems with Brent Peckover, P. Eng., PMP, and CPA, director of Industrial Applications, Christie’s; Facility Management in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Automation with Dean Kashiwagi, PhD, P.E., IFMA Fellow, director, Kashiwagi Solution Model Inc., and Demonstrating Commitment with GBI’s Green Globes for Existing Buildings Health & Wellness Distinction with Adam Wellen, director, Membership & Community, Green Building Initiative, among others.

Healthcare facility professionals and their staffs are exposed to abundant rules and regulations that are unique to hospitals, clinics and medical offices buildings. Training for the special needs of healthcare is routine, but does it cover the body of knowledge that facility managers need to posses? If you have opinions on your level of training and that of your staff, now is the time to share your opinions in the 2023 FM Training survey! Facility management professionals and employers are encouraged to complete the survey by February 24. All survey participants will receive a complimentary Pro Level registration to NFMT Baltimore, March 21-23

The 2022 FM Training Outlook Survey provided valuable insights in four categories: building and retaining the FM workforce, the value of FM training, addressing the FM skills gap and the importance of FM credentials and qualifications.

Just released, the International Facility Management Association’s (IFMA) Experts’ Assessment, Vol. 2: Future working environments and support functions toward 2030 is an in-depth analysis of what the facility management (FM) industry has learned since the first Experts’ Assessment study was conducted in 2020, and how changing organizational priorities are shaping the future of the built environment and FM roles. Assessing insights provided by subject matter experts (SMEs) from around the world, the report aims to build industry resilience and help FM professionals prepare for significant shifts in how organizations operate.

From July to September in 2022, IFMA used real-time Delphi methodology to survey 222 experts who are readying their organizations and clients for new ways of working toward 2030. Five thematic sections synthesize the subject matter experts’ perspectives on:
  • Facilities in demand toward 2030
  • Technology, work and workforce development
  • Workplace management and strategy
  • Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)
  • Facility management in 2030

Furnishing outdoor spaces can sometimes be a complicated task, involving a different set of considerations than those that apply to their indoor counterparts. For facility managers, this job entails achieving a balance between aesthetics and functionality while also reconciling the harsh realities the outdoors bring — weather, UV light, fluctuating heat and cold, and the harder everyday wear and tear to which the furnishings are subjected. Compound these considerations with the increasing expectations surrounding sustainability in production and manufacturing, and you have quite a laundry list of boxes to check. Solving these challenges is an innovative category of site furnishings that utilizes recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to create pieces that are reinventing the role of plastic in high-profile, high-design outdoor spaces.

Places to relax and repose
The classic Adirondack chair is a timeless expression of outdoor enjoyment, and the Americana chair from high-design site furniture manufacturer Landscape Forms takes the concept a few steps further — modernizing the iconic design language and using high-performance HDPE to make a bold visual statement while ensuring the chair’s durability. A celebration of outdoor living, Americana incorporates features designed to bring more aspects of modern life outside. Accessories include a hanger underneath the arm for secure bag or purse storage and an optional tablet arm, providing a wider surface for food and beverages or to serve as a work surface. Americana’s form factor is both wider and taller than a traditional Adirondack to enhance comfort and accessibility.

Fast reads . . .
With sweeping changes in the built environment, healthcare facility management professionals want to lead their organizations to higher levels of performance and experience. Hosted by IFMA, Facility Fusion is about building future-ready leadership skills. It’s about exploring what’s possible — for facilities, industry and careers.


This week's Featured Book from FMLink's new Books section is from the Construction Management category. Keep up with the latest trends and the best practices in the healthcare construction industry with Construction Management of Healthcare Projects. This in-depth resource shows exactly what requirements are necessary for hospitals, with details on building components, specialized functions, codes, and regulations. Also included are insightful case studies for you to see the real world application. Additional insight is given by interviews from leading healthcare construction managers.

Leading organizations have joined OSCRE International’s (“OSCRE”) Environmental Data Standards Working Group — a real estate industry effort to standardize environmental data. Standardization is a key piece in the corporate and real estate sectors’ efforts to better measure progress on sustainability goals.

Corporate members of OSCRE participating in this initiative include: BentallGreenOak / • Blackstone / • Brookfield Properties / • CBRE / • CoreNet Global / • Cushman & Wakefield / • Dealpath /• EBusiness Strategies /• Ernst & Young / • Hines /• International Facility Management Association (IFMA) /• JLL /• Lionpoint /• Intuit /• MRI Software /• Yardi.
The Environmental Data Standards Working Group has completed the scoping phase of the project and will move to the development phase this month.

"As the SEC advances its rulemaking to address climate change and real estate’s impact on the environment, ESG has become a priority for the real estate industry," stated Lisa Stanley, CEO of OSCRE International. "The purpose of the Environmental Data Standards Project is to bring together a diverse group of real estate stakeholders to address a common need — a standardized approach to collect, analyze and report data that’s collected across platforms that don’t communicate with each other."

Exploring how planning, real estate, design, construction, operations and regulations for healthcare facilities have changed, the Hospital, Outpatient Facilities & Medical Office Building Summit will be held at The Union League of Philadelphia on March 1st. McMorrow Reports/Healthcare is the media partner of the squarefootage.net summits.

Healthcare Hits the Reset Button includes these topics:
  • Market Shifts, Consumer Segments, Digital Adoption & Workforce;
  • Building an Agile Design & Construction Team;
  • Effective Quality Assurance in Healthcare Project Management;
  • Creating a Net Zero Future;
  • Solution Spotlight - Money Saving Ideas You Can Put to Work Now; 
  • Extending Care Past the Four Walls;
  • Building Resilient Healthcare Facilities;
  • Adaptive Reuse for Healthcare & Life Science Facilities; and
  • Taking Prefab/Modular Design & Construction to the Next Level.

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