Annmarie Adams’ article, “Canadian hospital architecture: how we got here,” published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on March 15, 2016, explains nearly two centuries of Canadian healthcare architecture in two pages.
The article presents academic research in an accessible format and underlines the power of architecture to enhance healthcare, a subject of vital interest to Canadians.
Prof. Adams’ research on healthcare architecture has attracted numerous academic awards, but none for media or outreach. The CMAJ paper is a good example of professional outreach – from architecture to medicine. The CMAJ is widely read by Canadian physicians and accepts only seven percent of papers submitted for publication.
This particular piece represents a whole series of articles written by Prof. Adams over more than 25 years that are intended to educate healthcare professionals, especially physicians, about the value and history of healthcare design, and educate readers outside Canada, especially Americans, about the state of Canadian healthcare architecture.
As our aging hospitals crumble and are replaced by new and sometimes puzzling institutions, we must celebrate and support efforts to explain the multifaceted world of hospital design.
Image courtesy of Annmarie Adams.
Image courtesy of Annmarie Adams.
“For her creativity and profound impact in synthesizing complex healthcare discourse with architecture in a manner that is simple to understand.”
“She conveys to varied audiences the power inherent in architecture to influence important life and death decisions.”
“She merges two different areas of expertise to explain better the impact of architecture on our daily life, each time we visit the hospital.”
“She helps physicians understand the importance of the buildings in which they work.”