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Since 1999, the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) has worked to transform the health care field and improve health care outcomes through the design and development of better health care facilities. In the same way that medical specialists seek board certification in areas of medical practice to indicate specialization in training and practice, for architects specializing in health care design, the ACHA offers board certification in the health care design field. The ACHA offered the first, and still the only, specialty design credential for architects recognized by the American Institute of Architects.
To become ACHA-certified, architects must submit their portfolio of work, evidence of at least five years of practice as a licensed architect and letters of reference with their application. If applicants meet the requirements, they are invited to take a rigorous exam. A process for certification that is “professionally sound and legally defensible” is of paramount importance to the integrity of the credential, so an independent testing agency oversees the process.
“While many health care architects claim expertise in designing health care facilities, the ACHA offers the only independent review of an architect’s time in the industry, professional reputation, health care design work product, and performance on a rigorous exam not based on a curriculum, but on broad industry understanding,” says 2017 ACHA President Ray Pentecost, DrPH, FAIA, FACHA, LEED AP.
Visit ACHA online for more information on its certification.
This article was contributed by ACHA.
