For decades, the Center for Wellness Design has been a creator of supportive communities where innovations can be shared, industry-wide challenges discussed and new ideas fostered.

In this spirit, we launched our first peer-to-peer network, the Built Environment Network (BEN), more than 10 years ago. The group provides a high-level collaborative forum for open strategic discussions that help set direction for the future of healthcare design.

BEN members are mostly senior- and executive-level professionals who oversee millions of square feet of healthcare space and are committed to improving safety, quality, and sustainability. Over the years, this group has grown to include a wide variety of hospitals and healthcare systems as well as industry partners with shared goals who help support this work.

More recently, the center has been working to support pediatric design and networking through small in-person and virtual experiences, and this month we decided to move forward with this initiative and launch our second peer-to-peer group, the Pediatric Environment Network (PEN). Unlike BEN, which covers all types of healthcare facilities, PEN is geared towards the unique needs of pediatric care and is open to senior and executive level healthcare facilities, design and manufacturing/consulting professionals involved in planning and overseeing these settings.

PEN members will benefit from various forms of learning throughout the year, including five facilitated virtual sessions as well as an annual in-person meeting that includes a behind-the-scenes hands-on tour of a model pediatric setting. The first in-person meeting will be hosted by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in September.

The PEN team will be assisted by Judy Smith, an experienced senior management consultant, facility planner and strategist who specializes in children’s and women’s health services and has completed more than 1,000 projects in the United States and internationally. She also chaired the development of the Facility Guidelines Institute’s first children’s hospital chapter.
Since these networks are designed to remain small to foster relationships, membership of BEN and PEN is limited and application-limited. For more information, please contact the center: design for health.org.

Debra Levin is President and CEO of the Center for Wellness Design.she can be [email protected].