Gordian shipped up to Boston in July to attend the 2022 American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) Annual Conference. Our team joined healthcare facilities managers and experts from across the country for a few days of networking and learning. Five members of Gordian’s healthcare team were on site to meet with attendees and share how Gordian’s healthcare solutions can help them tackle the challenges of budgeting, building and maintaining capital-intensive building assets. Typical of any ASHE event, the convention was a chance to take the pulse of the industry and find out what’s on the minds of its leaders.
Here are three things I learned from the 2022 ASHE Annual Conference.
Facilities Leaders Are Under Pressure
Keynote speaker Dr. Sudip Bose kicked off the 2022 conference with a speech about “Leadership under Pressure,” and with good reason. The last two years have been incredibly taxing on healthcare systems and those in charge have been feeling the heat. The pandemic challenged facilities managers to make more beds and more rooms available out of nowhere. While hospitals are still dealing with COVID-19, there’s a common misconception from the public that the pandemic is more or less over. That means there’s now pressure to pick back up and resume working on construction projects that have been sidelined for the past two years. The growing pressure to resume pre-pandemic projects along with day-to-day issues puts facilities managers in a tough situation.
“The more you sweat during peace times, the less you bleed during war times,” said Dr. Bose. He continued to emphasize the importance of setting priorities, communicating and being able to make tough decisions during this time. Throughout the show, Bose made it clear that the entire industry must look in the mirror and reassess its priorities.
Emphasis on Energy Efficiency
In our PDC Summit recap, we mentioned a featured panel focused on decarbonization. That trend continued at ASHE Annual this year with a variety of presentations and panels focusing on energy and sustainability. More than 10 breakout sessions, main stage panels and round tables were discussions on green energy, sustainability, or decarbonization. Leaders attending the conference recognized this as the next big task facing the industry. As Kathleen Fink, Energy Manager of Penn Medicine, said on a main stage panel, “This is either something that will be assigned to you, or you can be a leader on.”
Michael Roberts, Director of Enterprise Energy Services for Atrium Health, gave a particularly interesting talk about how Atrium Health moved one of its hospitals from an ENERGY STAR® score of 2, to a certification score of 77. The key was to present energy efficiency as an opportunity for long-term savings. Sustainability doesn’t necessarily mean shifting to green energy. However; installing newer, more efficient systems and processes in your hospital can improve the environment and end up saving some green.
Back to Full Capacity at ASHE Annual
The Gordian team had a wonderful time at ASHE PDC 2022 in March, but we left with the feeling that attendance still wasn’t quite back to pre-pandemic numbers. Attendees and exhibitors alike commented that the show seemed to only be at two-thirds capacity.
After ASHE Annual, it’s safe to say that indoor conventions are back. The healthcare industry was full “team” ahead with over 1,000 attendees and exhibitors packing the hall. We enjoyed catching up with old connections and making new ones during our stay in Boston. We’re looking forward to seeing everyone again in San Antonio next August!
