Vermont Business Magazine Three of the country’s leading healthcare architectural firms, including one of Vermont's largest architectural firms, have merged: MorrisSwitzer Environments for Health (Williston, Vermont), Ascension Group Architects, and daSilva Architects are now Environments for Health Architecture (E4H). Each firm has focused exclusively on healthcare design, and has a history of innovation, agility, and state-of-the-art technical expertise specific to the healthcare sector. MorrisSwitzer is the firm designing the new $175 million University of Vermont Medical Center inpatient building in Burlington.
In the announcement made today, E4H said in a statement that it offers comprehensive architectural services in healthcare design, with an expanded depth of experience, talent, and geographic reach. The firm has 130 healthcare planners and architects in offices across the United States and 30 in Vermont. It has collectively completed more than 5,000 healthcare projects over the past three decades.
The E4H portfolio includes over $5 billion in projects, encompassing community hospitals, academic medical centers, life science laboratories, R&D space, children's hospitals, mental health facilities, ambulatory care centers, rehabilitation facilities, assisted living, and medical office buildings. Services include healthcare planning, architecture, and interior design.
“Healthcare providers and life sciences businesses have a unique set of needs; balancing the delivery of care with business imperatives requires a deep understanding of this rapidly changing industry,” said Dan Morris, Partner, E4H. “E4H now offers both a knowledge of the local healthcare market and access to an expanded talent and experience pool that will benefit our clients enormously.”
According to E4H, regional office leaders will continue to manage day to day operations, with Dan Morris and Jill Boardman continuing to share companywide operational leadership, supported by a five-member management committee whose members represent each region.
E4H said it is committed to a regional model and thus has no formal headquarters. The company began in Vermont and thus has strong roots here, and said it is growing quickly in the Boston office as well.
No jobs will be lost in any locations. The company expects continued growth, and is actively hiring in the Boston, New York and Dallas offices.
MorrisSwitzer revenue in 2015 was over $17 million and 2016 E4H revenue is expected to be $40 million.
Artist renderings of new University of Vermont Medical Center inpatient building, courtesy UVMMC.
With 100 percent of its practice devoted to healthcare and health innovation, E4H focuses on delivering lean solutions to provide value, maximize the quality of care, and reduce overall costs. Each office will maintain its leadership team and staff, building upon existing strengths to create exceptional healthcare environments.
Healthcare Trends
- Hospitals are increasingly being asked to do more with less, and patients expect a feeling of luxury and individualized care. As a result, there’s a demand for more patient-centric hospital rooms, and areas that can serve multiple needs.
- Greater demand for economically and environmentally sustainable environments
- Need for bacterial resistant surfaces to fight hospital born infections
- Environments designed with specific therapeutic needs in mind (autism treatment locations, addiction/rehabilitation for example)
About E4H
E4H, an architecture firm exclusively focused on the healthcare industry, is dedicated to creating flexible environments for health that enhance the well-being of patients and families through Smart Facility Design. Formed through the merger of three firms – MorrisSwitzer Environments for Health, Ascension Group Architects, and daSilva Architects – E4H has three decades of experience, more than 5,000 projects completed, and locations across the United States. The privately held company is uniquely positioned to solve complex challenges posed by today’s changing healthcare landscape. Its unique solutions create environments that are economically and environmentally sustainable.
MorrisSwitzer E4H, the New England branch of E4H, has been a full service architecture firm committed exclusively to the design of healthcare facilities for more than 25 years. The MorrisSwitzer team is well-known for their groundbreaking lean design, collaborative process, and commitment to improving patient care.
daSilva E4H, based in New York, has 35 years of healthcare design innovation experience. The team has worked extensively at most of the major medical centers in the Tri-State area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, providing client-centered service, patient-centered design, and award-winning interiors.
Ascension Group E4H develops award-winning architecture and interior design for facilities across the South and Western United States. Launched in 2001 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas, Ascension Group specializes in rapid design processes, large project implementation, and innovative design for physicians and corporate healthcare clients.
Source: (Boston, MA) June, 1st, 2016 – E4H. For more information, visit www.e4harchitecture.com.