Cannon Design’s world leadership in planning and design for healthcare reflects more than our portfolio of wide-ranging and award-winning projects. It reflects our dedication and commitment to informed perspective on the complex variables influencing intelligent capital investment in one of the most vital institutions of the modern world.

This perspective is built upon our continuing investment in the pursuit and interpretation of new knowledge and the evolving balance of four key forces that influence healthcare services, healthcare facilities and healthcare change: demand, science, technology and resources. It is manifest in ideas and solutions that deal equally with the human, technological, environmental and financial parameters that must be reconciled in all projects. It yields work that is breaking new ground in efficiency, adaptability, economic performance, and experience – for patients, staff and visitors.

From community hospital to academic medical center; from ambulatory care to translational medicine; from sub-specialty centers of excellence to full-spectrum replacement facilities, every project reflects what is possible as a product of the synergy of expertise, discipline and imagination in the realization of the client’s vision.

Cannon Design has programmed more than 1 billion sf of healthcare facilities around the world for public and private real estate developers, investor-owned companies, publicly held corporations, nonprofit organizations, universities, city and county governments, and federal agencies. Our work ranges from small community-based hospitals to large academic medical centers, entire healthcare systems, and nationwide healthcare master planning for the country of Bermuda.

We enable clients to anticipate and manage their present and future growth by assessing current conditions, obtaining a clear understanding of their goals and aspirations, and devising strategies to achieve these goals within the established budget and timeframe.

Implementing capital strategies on academic medical center campuses requires a specialized understanding of clinical delivery futures, translational research, and philosophies of medical education. As one of the highest-ranked North American firms in design for university, research, and healthcare, Cannon Design draws upon a fully integrated understanding of these areas to create highly successful, world-class academic medical centers.

Cannon Design’s major assignments for one-third of the leading medical centers in the U.S. as well as other prestigious facilities around the world have been recognized with numerous honors as well as a high rate of repeat commissions from these valued clients.

Whether rural, suburban, or urban, community hospitals face a host of fiscal pressures and a range of obligations to their constituents. In planning and designing community hospitals, Cannon Design partners with clients to explore opportunities for streamlining the patient-care process, and with diverse stakeholder groups to achieve design solutions that manifest expressed goals and aspirations.

With a broad understanding of the variety of service lines and departments offered in the community hospital, we undertake state-of-the-art planning and design to enhance the staff and physician experience and facilitate delivery of family-focused care that addresses each community’s unique needs.

As more and more medical treatments are offered in ambulatory rather than inpatient settings, Cannon Design has been helping healthcare providers accommodate this trend with ambulatory care design strategies ranging from development of medical and professional office buildings and surgery centers to master planning for regional and community-based expansion of healthcare.

Cannon Design’s significant volume of repeat work with physician groups, academic medical centers, healthcare systems, and private and public entities enables development of ambulatory care strategies that fit clients’ unique needs, including translational medicine environments that transition smoothly between clinical and research lab settings. We implement best practices drawn from the latest knowledge around the globe, including advances in technology, self-service patient check-in, universal room design, and team-based delivery.

Women’s health facilities provide a wide array of services, including prenatal care, birthing, high-risk obstetrics, well-baby care, gynecology, minimally invasive surgery, breast care, and heart health. Successful design of a women’s health facility requires knowledge of each service’s unique requirements.

Cannon Design brings this knowledge to bear in the design of women’s centers, with a consistent emphasis on family-centered care. Obstetric units are welcoming, nurturing environments that emphasize wellness, privacy, comfort, and accessibility of technological intervention. For clients implementing new operational models of maternity care, such as single-room or LDR/postpartum units, we draw upon our extensive experience and knowledge of best practices to develop a facility that optimally expresses our client’s unique vision.

According to the World Health Organization and the National Institute of Mental Health, one in four people will suffer from mental illness at some point in their lives. However, despite the widespread nature of mental illness and the proven effectiveness of modern treatments, the majority of behavioral health facilities are outdated and inadequate to support today’s care regimens.

At Cannon Design, we believe that sensitively designed facilities positively impact patient outcomes. Over the past decade, we have remained at the forefront of behavioral healthcare facility planning and design, opening more major behavioral healthcare facilities than any other firm. Our work has encompassed a spectrum of care modalities, ranging from community-based establishments to major tertiary-care behavioral complexes.

Designing facilities for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease – the leading cause of death in the United States – requires a rigorous understanding of present and future diagnostic and therapeutic modalities as well as a firm footing in the business and future of the field of cardiology.

Cannon Design brings a depth of understanding of this building type that is founded on years of practice and research. With a portfolio of cardiovascular facility design solutions ranging from private physician practices to destination ambulatory centers and freestanding heart hospitals, we understand the impact of environment on the delivery of care, and we create buildings that are efficient, flexible, comfortable, and truly representative of our clients’ aspirations and spirit.

Cannon Design’s experience in large-scale, complex cancer projects is unmatched by any North American firm. Our portfolio includes major work at a dozen highly rated NCI-designated centers as well as other prominent cancer facilities around the world.

Through decades of practice and research and thousands of interviews with cancer patients and healthcare providers, Cannon Design’s cancer design teams have created environments that optimize delivery of care and support patients and their families throughout the course of treatment, fostering the spirit of partnership and advocacy that is essential to mental and physical healing.

At the heart of successful orthopedics service design is attention to detail: Infection control, accessibility, efficiency, and knowledge of multiple diagnostic and therapeutic modalities are just a few of the dimensions designers must address in creating a successful orthopedics facility.

Whether implementing large projects for the country’s top-ranked orthopedic hospital or developing freestanding orthopedic centers and ambulatory-based facilities, Cannon Design creates environments that improve delivery of care, reassure and support patients and their families, and facilitate the complex treatment and rehabilitation regimens associated with this specialty.

From large urban trauma centers to community hospital emergency departments, freestanding emergency care facilities, and mass casualty treatment centers, Cannon Design implements solutions that address the unique challenges of emergency medicine and emphasize the efficient, effective, and safe delivery of care.

Through careful analysis of workload and operations, functional relationships, flow patterns, and the integration of technology, we devise emergency care environments that accommodate current and projected healthcare demand, attract and retain quality staff, and alleviate the anxiety of patients and visitors seeking emergency care.

With ever shorter technological life cycles and ever more demanding requirements governing equipment loading, clearances, isolation, and infrastructure, imaging services are a prime driver of obsolescence in healthcare facilities. In addition, imaging has surpassed its traditional function as a simple diagnostic tool, with PACS electronic image files enabling inclusion of imaging services in the service offerings of many other medical subspecialties, and next-generation advances in CT and MRI further widening the applications of these technologies.

With a wealth of experience in imaging services design for academic environments, community hospitals, research, and ambulatory environments, Cannon Design’s healthcare planners and designers remain at the forefront of this rapidly evolving field through research, ongoing partnering with major suppliers and frequent attendance at seminars and conferences.

The increasing age of the U.S. population has resulted in a significant increase in the acuity of long-term care patients. Patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and complex multiple-diagnosis conditions require a physical infrastructure that is both clinically supportive and homelike.

As a leader in the development of design standards for complex and long-term care, Cannon Design understands that these facilities play a crucial role in the full continuum of healthcare delivery. Going beyond mere provision of custodial care, these environments promote personal dignity, human bonding, enrichment opportunities, nurturing attention, and emotional and physical well-being.