Building Healthcare Partners at AIA Ohio Conference

In early October 2018, the Indiana Kentucky Ohio Regional Council of Carpenters (IKORCC) was a Platinum Sponsor at the AIA Ohio Convention in Toledo, Ohio. AIA Ohio is part of the elite society of the American Institute of Architects. The society shares similar concentrations to the IKORCC. Both organizations are working to produce positive legislative and governmental development in licensing requirements and construction appropriations.

IKORCC’s very own, Jay Patz, Instructor from Northwest Indiana, spoke in a breakout session highlighting ICRA patient safety in facilities. Jay shared astonishing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control regarding hospital associated infections. Those statistics included information about patients who survived infection to those infections that led to death. Within the scope of those statistics, 5,000 of patients lost their lives due to a construction related hospital associated infection.  

It is IKORCC’s goal to open the line of communication for pre-planning opportunities. Jay showed that this level of communication will allow for patient safety to be the number one priority, and increase the effectiveness of the architect and workers on the jobsite.

Keynote Speaker, Coren Sharples, founding partner of SHoP Architects, wowed her audience with new unconventional ways to approach design. Her designs focus on the beautifully practical. The future holds learning opportunities for IKORCC apprentices and the Council at large. The convention was capped with many educational avenues with which the Council can engage.