Joseph G. Sprague, is Senior Vice President and Director Health Facilities at HKS Architects, Inc., an international design firm specializing in health facilities. He serves as health facilities principal and technical advisor on various healthcare projects. Prior to joining HKS, Joe was director of design and construction at the American Hospital Association. While at the AHA, Joe managed the nationally recognized Health Facility Codes and Standards Program and led the healthcare industry in a “common sense” approach to facility standards. His work is widely published and he is a frequent consultant, faculty speaker, and lecturer in health facility planning, design and construction. Mr. Sprague is the past president of the AIA’s Academy of Architecture for Health, currently serves as the chairman of the AIA Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities, and is president of the Facility Guidelines Institute, a leader in design guidelines for health care facilities.

Robert Walker is President of Walker & Associates and has focused his 30 year career in healthcare design and facility development. Bob has served in many roles throughout his career, such as; an architectural principal in a national design firm, a director of design and construction with a national healthcare development firm, a manager of project services for a 1,200 bed tertiary care campus and a corporate regional director of capital projects for a national for-profit healthcare system. Bob currently is the owner of a firm specializing in healthcare project management services, serving healthcare clients throughout the Midwest and Texas. Their project experience is diverse and includes complex remodels and expansions, freestanding ambulatory care centers, new critical access hospitals and major hospital campus replacements.

Doug Childs is the Healthcare Design Principal for Childs Mascari Warner Architects in San Diego, California. He manages an active healthcare practice with projects throughout the West Coast. His projects include a number of design award winners. Doug also serves as a Commissioner of the California Architects Board.

Peter Bardwell With over 30 years of experience exclusively dedicated to healthcare planning and design, Mr.Bardwell is honored to be among fewer than 40 practicing architects nationwide to have been named a Fellow in both the American Institute of Architects and the American College of Healthcare Architects.
During graduate studies at Clemson University, Mr. Bardwell was awarded the first ITT International Fellowship to research health facilities in Finland and northern Europe; followed by his receipt of the National AIA School Medal for Design Excellence upon completion of his Master of Architecture in Health Facility Planning and Design.
Mr. Bardwell has held numerous leadership positions with the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health and was 2008 National President. As an invited Founding Member and Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Architects, he currently serves on the Board of Regents and has led the efforts to develop the overall content for the national examination used to assure a high standard for future members of the College.
Mr. Bardwell has served as a jury member for the national Modern Healthcare 2004 Design Awards and most recently was jury Chair for the 2009 AIA National Healthcare Design Awards for Innovation. His national leadership has been further recognized through his invitation to author articles on current health planning and design issues in The Journal of Ambulatory Care Medicine, Health Facilities Management, and in Frontiers in Health Services Management. In recent years, he has given over thirty presentations on a wide range of healthcare planning and design topics to national and international audiences throughout the U.S. and in three foreign countries.
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Connie McFarland has over thirty years experience with the majority of her projects focused on healthcare. She has served vigorously on the national level of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) where she has been the chair of the AIA Risk Management Committee three times over a ten year term. Connie has served as chair of the 2000 AIA Trust in Washington, D.C. where she held a five year term on the committee. She is a founding Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Architects (FACHA) and has served on the membership committee for many years. Connie is the Co-Chair of the Architects Political Action Committee for the State of Oklahoma. As President of McFarland Davies Architects, Connie manages the day to day activities of the firm. Her primary role in project development is master planning and programming.

Mark Nichols is a Principal at Loebl Schlossman & Hackl and a co-director within the firm’s Healthcare Practice. With over 25 years of experience, he has specialized in healthcare planning and design. Mr. Nichols has led major expansion and renovation projects at various healthcare institutions, working on both new construction and historic structures. His clients include six of Chicago’s largest hospitals and academic medical centers. He is recognized for his management and leadership skills and his personal involvement in the day-to-day execution of these projects. He recently served as the 2008 / 2009 Chair of the AIA Chicago Healthcare Knowledge Community.
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Tib Tusler has devoted his professional career to health facility related research, programming and strategic planning for his healthcare clients. He has worked on research studies for several governmental agencies and he has lead planning projects for some of the nation’s best hospitals, ambulatory facilities and academic medical centers in both the United States and overseas. In addition to his project work, Tib has been active in promoting research and innovation in health care and health facilities throughout his career.

He is past president of Stone, Marraccini and Patterson (SMP) Architects now merged with the SmithGroup. Tib holds a BS and MS degrees in Building Design from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) and a Master of Architecture (M.ARCH) degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has been elevated to Fellowship in both the American Institute of Architects and the American College of Healthcare Architects

Tib is co-founder and past-president of the Coalition of Health for Environments Research (CHER), a not for profit organization dedicated to promoting and disseminating health facilities research. Currently CHER in expanded form functions as the research arm for the Center for Health Design (CHD). He is also a founding member of the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) and currently serves on its Board of Regents and Chair of its Ethics Committee. He is also past president of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) and is a member of its Leadership Council.

Tib is the recipient of many awards including the National Healthcare Facilities Symposium Distinguished Individual award and the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) award for Lifetime Achievement in health care architecture, the highest award given by the College or any architectural healthcare organization in the United States.