The Voice of Florida Architecture
Sep 25, 2026 · 36 min · 10 segments
Host Rhonda Hammond, AIA, speaks with Itzel Lozada, AIA, and Keith Lashley, FAIA, two architects with experience in healthcare design whose own medical journeys brought new perspective to their work…
Keith LashleyGuest
Itzel LozadaGuest
Rhonda HammondHost
So Itzel, you've written that your own experience taught you that healthcare architecture isn't simply about buildings.
It's about creating places where people can heal, they can com- recover, find comfort, and experience hope.
How does empathy for you actually translate into design decisions? What do you do differently because you've been the patient?
I think empathy, em- empathy becomes practical when, when it changes, uh, what we notice and what we can protect.
I now mentally walk the patient's journey and, um, just like in Dr. Patel's office, the journey through the arrival, the waiting, you know, matters with privacy, transfers, uh, the access to support, the small moments when a person needs control or dignity.
And then take that same approach for the caretakers and family members, because they were really important to me in my recovery.
I always say to, to our team members here, 'cause I, I'm asked to share sometimes my testimony in, um, in team building events and things like that.
I always share this with, with our staff, is that to give your, your work a deeper purpose, um, especially when the schedules tighten, when budgets strain, when teams change during the design and construction pro- uh, process, a- and during this project's duration, to return to the why.
And the why is the patient, the, the caregiver, and, and the family who will live with the decisions that we have made, and that's a huge responsibility.
Uh, one thing I really liked about Dr. Patel's office is as you're s- you're there in the waiting room, there's an opaque panel, and you can see shadows of people going back and forth, caregivers.
And you know, that was, is, is so important when you're going through something like that to have a connection.
Th- there's a separation and there's times when you wanna be- ... alone, and there's times you wanna feel that there's other people there, and that's very important, I think, in care, uh, caregiving in hospitals.
It's a humbling experience, it really is, 'cause you're dependent upon so many other people.
It can be, I, I wouldn't say as pleasant, but it can be as much more pleasant than, uh, well let's say a cancer patient is, uh, having a different healing experience than someone like Itzel who has her, her legs broken.
And to understand the different departments in a hospital and what those particular patients are going through, and there's almost a camaraderie that's established, people who are esta- who are going through one type of illness as opposed to someone who's going through a different type of illness.
I, I have to interject and thank you, uh, Keith, for, for those words, because a lot of detail went into those panels.
Those were three form panels and, and the purpose of that was that this, uh, waiting room was large.
We were accommodating three programs into one, so it was gonna house almost 100 people, and it, it, we didn't wanna make it feel, uh, uh, claustrophobic.
So the in- intent to give it some depth, we added some three form panels that would give you that-
... uh, translucency, and allow you to see that there's people out there and there's movement and, and it was real.
And I really appreciate Dr. Patel's staff, which we worked really hard with, which were very mindful about their patients.
So Itzel, you've written that your own experience taught you that healthcare architecture isn't simply about buildings.
It's about creating places where people can heal, they can com- recover, find comfort, and experience hope.
How does empathy for you actually translate into design decisions? What do you do differently because you've been the patient?
I think empathy, em- empathy becomes practical when, when it changes, uh, what we notice and what we can protect.
I now mentally walk the patient's journey and, um, just like in Dr. Patel's office, the journey through the arrival, the waiting, you know, matters with privacy, transfers, uh, the access to support, the small moments when a person needs control or dignity.
And then take that same approach for the caretakers and family members, because they were really important to me in my recovery.
I always say to, to our team members here, 'cause I, I'm asked to share sometimes my testimony in, um, in team building events and things like that.
I always share this with, with our staff, is that to give your, your work a deeper purpose, um, especially when the schedules tighten, when budgets strain, when teams change during the design and construction pro- uh, process, a- and during this project's duration, to return to the why.
And the why is the patient, the, the caregiver, and, and the family who will live with the decisions that we have made, and that's a huge responsibility.
Uh, one thing I really liked about Dr. Patel's office is as you're s- you're there in the waiting room, there's an opaque panel, and you can see shadows of people going back and forth, caregivers.
And you know, that was, is, is so important when you're going through something like that to have a connection.
Th- there's a separation and there's times when you wanna be- ... alone, and there's times you wanna feel that there's other people there, and that's very important, I think, in care, uh, caregiving in hospitals.
It's a humbling experience, it really is, 'cause you're dependent upon so many other people.
It can be, I, I wouldn't say as pleasant, but it can be as much more pleasant than, uh, well let's say a cancer patient is, uh, having a different healing experience than someone like Itzel who has her, her legs broken.
And to understand the different departments in a hospital and what those particular patients are going through, and there's almost a camaraderie that's established, people who are esta- who are going through one type of illness as opposed to someone who's going through a different type of illness.
I, I have to interject and thank you, uh, Keith, for, for those words, because a lot of detail went into those panels.
Those were three form panels and, and the purpose of that was that this, uh, waiting room was large.
We were accommodating three programs into one, so it was gonna house almost 100 people, and it, it, we didn't wanna make it feel, uh, uh, claustrophobic.
So the in- intent to give it some depth, we added some three form panels that would give you that-
... uh, translucency, and allow you to see that there's people out there and there's movement and, and it was real.
And I really appreciate Dr. Patel's staff, which we worked really hard with, which were very mindful about their patients.
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