Designing Care On-Air

MindCareConnect co-founders Parker Wolff and Sydney Harris explore how lived experience, peer leadership, and co-production can transform behavioral health environments into spaces of dignity, healing, and possibility. Presented in connection with their keynote at the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo 2026.

The conversation examines practical ways leaders can remove barriers, protect time and resources, connect frontline insight with strategic priorities, and recognize contributions throughout the innovation journey. We also consider what it takes to sustain momentum after the initial excitement fades through visible sponsorship, psychological safety, clear pathways, shared accountability, and measures that value learning as well as outcomes.

Ready for your creativity to take flight? This initial overview of design thinking will propel you to take the lead on the big ideas that will move healthcare forward.

Clinical research depends on more than protocols. It depends on people, places, communication pathways, and the systems that support participant safety and trial integrity. In this episode, Dr. Gordon Hill joins Designing Care On-Air to discuss the evolving role of clinical research nursing and midwifery, the importance of professional visibility, and the clinical voices that help design safer, more connected research environments around the globe.

In this episode of Designing Care On-Air, we’re joined by Alex and Bri, both two-time cancer survivors, as they reflect on what it felt like to navigate cancer at an age when they were often told, “You’re too young to be here.” Together, we explore the unique needs of AYA cancer patients, the search for community and belonging, and the ways healthcare environments can either deepen isolation or help hold hope. This is a conversation about survivorship, design, and the radical importance of giving young people facing cancer permission to still imagine a life ahead.

Climate change is no longer a background condition; it is actively shaping patient outcomes, workforce resilience, and the environments where care is delivered. In this episode of Designing Care On-Air, we speak with Grace Kistner about why climate health is a frontline healthcare issue and how nurses are uniquely positioned to lead advocacy and systems change. From translating climate data into clinical realities to influencing policy, design, and organizational decision-making, this conversation centers advocacy as a professional responsibility and a powerful lever for transformation. Whether you work in healthcare, design, or policy, this episode challenges you to move beyond awareness and into action. Protecting and championing good health means advocating for the environments that sustain it.

This episode explores legacy mapping, risk-taking, and the lessons we borrow from those who came before us to shape the future of healthcare design. A reflective conversation with changemakers on courage, continuity, and lighting the path forward for the industry.

Join architect and mental & behavioral health planner Stephen Parker as we explore trauma-informed design, crisis center planning, and policy that supports mental health across generations. Stephen offers insights on peer support integration, reimbursement strategies, and the cultural influences shaping responsive spaces. Whether you're a planner, provider, or policy advocate, this conversation reveals how thoughtful architecture can create orientation in patient journey, foster community healing, and inspire the next generation of designers.

Two-step into the heart of Texas with Jessica Gutierrez-Rodriguez, Senior Executive Director of Clinical Facilities at University of Texas Health San Antonio, as she shares how her journey as a mother to a child with congenital heart disease shapes her bold vision for healthcare spaces. In this episode of Designing Care On-Air, Jessica opens up about balancing cutting-edge design with deeply human experiences by crafting environments that heal, connect, and transform care for patients and their families.

Christina Olivarria and Jhiah Chang unpack the high-pressure work of orchestrating over 100 projects in just 18 months on a busy academic medical center campus. They’ll reveal the pitfalls that nearly derailed progress, how staff-centric strategies turned resistance into collaboration, and the creative space modifications (yes, even furniture hacks) that kept care flowing while construction loomed. If you think enabling projects are just a logistical checkbox, think again. Learn how thoughtful planning, staff-focused strategies, and streamlined communication can turn logistical hurdles into opportunities for innovation.