TurningArt Blog Integrated Healthcare Design: Insights from HCD 2026

Healthcare design is moving toward a more human-centered and evidence-based approach to the built environment. At this year's Healthcare Design Conference and Expo (HCD), sessions led by leaders in healthcare, architecture, and industry research highlighted how art, nature, restorative spaces, and community identity can actively contribute to better care experiences. In their session exploring how art can serve as clinical infrastructure and support caregivers, Ryan Patrick, Director of Public Arts and Arts in Medicine Curator at NYC Health + Hospitals, and Marcel Foster, CEO & Co-founder of Performance Hypothesis, highlighted how NYC Health + Hospitals approaches the arts and the built environment as public health interventions. The Curating for Health program curates and commissions art across 11 hospitals and 35+ states. Informed by clinical insights and environmental design principles, each collection is selected to support the specific emotional and functional goals of the space. HHart of Medicine, an evidence-based art observation program targeting staff burnout, and the Community Mural Project, which facilitates a collaborative mural-making process in healthcare spaces to foster a sense of community, offer additional examples of how art can be leveraged as a care strategy. Patrick and Foster highlighted that investing in these kinds of arts-based initiatives directly impacts patient satisfaction, staff retention, and community trust. As the nation's largest public health system, the impact of these initiatives from NYC Health + Hospitals is especially useful in informing similar programs and frameworks. These insights point to a larger question for healthcare designers: how can the built environment not only accommodate care but actively contribute to it?