News & Insights
VIDEO: Future-ready flexibility for healthcare
Why this matters now
Healthcare delivery is changing faster than the buildings that house it. Outpatient migration, technology shifts, workforce pressures, and new care models are reshaping how facilities need to perform. Health systems building today are also planning for change they cannot fully predict. Designing for flexibility has become essential, but it has to be done without driving costs beyond what budgets and missions can support.
What leaders are weighing
Healthcare leaders are weighing the cost of flexibility features against the risk of buildings that age out before their useful life. They are deciding how to balance soft space, generous infrastructure, and modular layouts with capital limits and operational realities. There are tradeoffs around MEP capacity, structural assumptions, and how technology will evolve. Clinical leaders want spaces that support care today. Operations teams want predictable performance. Boards want assets that hold value over decades. The right design choices reflect all three.
How Salas O’Brien is helping clients respond
Our healthcare team helps systems build flexibility into facilities thoughtfully and affordably. We bring MEP, structural, technology, and planning expertise together with deep understanding of how care is changing. We help clients identify where flexibility pays back and where it adds cost without value. Hear Duane Waite, Jeff Cichonski, Khaja Syed, and Jim Norton talk through what future-ready healthcare facilities look like.
Duane Waite
Duane Waite, with 39 years of experience managing electrical engineering teams, combines a hands-on approach with an eye for detail, inspiring his team to deliver quality work consistently. His commitment to continuing education and mentorship, combined with reliable, efficient communication and information-tracking systems, has proven highly advantageous on complex projects such as hospitals, pharmaceutical, educational, governmental, and industrial facilities. Duane serves as a Principal at Salas O’Brien and Head of the Electrical Department in Canada. Contact him at [email protected].
Jeff Cichonski, PE
Jeff Cichonski is a principal and mechanical engineer with over 25 years of design and management experience. His focus on building long-term relationships by being responsive to our clients’ needs is demonstrated in his execution of both design and project management. Jeff brings a vital understanding of building systems to his work as Salas O’Brien, in particular for healthcare facilities, universities, and manufacturing facilities. His experience ranges from hospital expansions and renovations to infrastructure upgrade projects. Contact him at [email protected]
Khaja Syed, P.Eng. MS.
Khaja Syed is known for his leadership and project management skills across multi-national projects. His experience includes significant roles in designing and managing complex electrical systems for hospitals and pharmaceutical, educational, governmental, and industrial facilities. Khaja serves as a Principal at Salas O’Brien. Contact him at [email protected] .
Jim Norton
Jim is a Senior Vice President and Healthcare leader at BVH Integrated Services, a Salas O’Brien Company. Jim graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute back in 2006, and has been with BVH ever since. Jim currently oversees an MEP studio of 16 design professionals and primarily focuses on healthcare. He has experience with master planning, new construction, and complex renovations over the course of his career.