Deb Sheehan to Present at 8th World Congress for Design and Health

Deb Sheehan’s abstract, “Off the Grid: A Prototype for Community Healthcare in Developing Nations,” was selected for presentation, among hundreds of submissions received, at the 8th World Congress on Design and Health, to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia this summer.

At what is considered to be one of the most significant conferences in this particular field world-wide, the six-day event brings together thought leaders from around the world to discuss the essential role of design in improving human health, well being and quality of life.

An internationally recognized healthcare leader in healthcare facility planning and design, Cannon Design Principal, Deb Sheehan, LEED AP, ACHE, EDAC, directs the firm’s Chicago healthcare practice and is one of the firm's national practice leaders. Sheehan and her team developed scalable prototype hospitals for US AID, built to provide healthcare access in remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Additionally, they developed organizational models and planning standards for the Ministry of Health of Turkey.

“The challenges were many,” notes Sheehan. “Creating a hospital in a country where basic healthcare was a virtual luxury, did not prove to be easy. Designing affordable, efficient structures with limited availability of modern construction materials, almost no skilled tradesmen, and a volatile political meant we had to re-evaluate how hospitals are designed and built.”

For more information about the basis of Deb’s presentation, please see the attached brief, Afghanistan and Beyond, which documents the unique aspects of the Afghanistan Prototype Hospital.