2026 HEALTHCARE FACILITIES SYMPOSIUM AND EXPO MINI TREND REPORT
Media Contact:
Sophia Lapat 212.203.6536
[email protected]
Technology, Behavioral Health, Flexible Space and Patient-Centered Takes Center Stage
CHARLOTTE, NC- (June 30, 2026) — Healthcare Facilities Symposium and Expo (HFSE), one of the country’s largest shows dedicated to healthcare design and facilities will feature an expansive Exhibit Hall with 100+ Exhibitors from across the globe boasting the best products and services in the healthcare design industry including: furnishings, lighting, flooring, wall coverings, solution providers, technology, and so much more. In addition, HFSE’s programming explores the issues shaping the future of healthcare environments, with sessions covering emerging technologies, operational innovation, sustainability, and the evolving role of digital tools in care delivery.
Healthcare organizations are navigating a rapidly changing landscape marked by workforce shortages, rising behavioral health needs, advancing technology, and evolving patient expectations. As designers, providers, and facility leaders gather at HFSE in Charlotte this September, four major trends are emerging as key drivers of healthcare facility planning and design.
1. Technology Matters-Powered Up Design
Healthcare facilities are becoming increasingly connected as organizations invest in digital infrastructure, smart building technologies, AI and advanced patient monitoring. These technologies are helping improve operational efficiency, enhance patient experiences, and support better clinical outcomes.
HFSE Session:
How AI is Reshaping Healthcare Environments, Operations and Human Experience will explore how technology is influencing everything from planning and design to facility management. Artificial intelligence is moving beyond clinical applications and becoming a powerful tool in healthcare planning, design, and operations. Design teams are increasingly using AI to analyze workflows, predict space utilization, optimize patient flow, and improve facility performance.
Exhibitors to Watch:
dRofus (Booth 402) is a leading planning, data management, and requirements solution for the architecture, engineering, construction, and healthcare industries. The platform helps healthcare organizations, owners, architects, and project teams manage complex facility planning data across the entire building lifecycle — from early programming and capital planning through design, construction, and operations.
By centralizing room data, equipment requirements, standards, and project information in a single source of truth, dRofus helps reduce risk, improve coordination, standardize planning processes, and support more informed decision-making across healthcare facility projects and portfolios.
Guard1 by TimeKeeping Systems (Booth 112) is a leading technology provider for behavioral healthcare, offering a comprehensive platform designed to enhance safety and operational efficiency. Key features include: Electronic Proof of Presence: Utilizes RFID technology for real-time tracking of staff and patients, ensuring safety and compliance. Mobile RFID Tracking: Allows for quick and accurate monitoring of individuals and assets within facilities. Duress Devices: Equipped with panic buttons for immediate alerts in case of emergencies. Real-Time Location Tracking: Provides comprehensive logs of individual movements, enhancing patient safety.
2. Behavioral Health and Trauma-Informed Design
The demand for behavioral health services continues to grow, prompting healthcare systems to rethink how environments support safety, dignity, and healing. Today’s behavioral health facilities emphasize natural light, sensory control, biophilic elements, de-escalation spaces, and trauma-informed design strategies that reduce stress while improving outcomes for patients and caregivers.
HFSE Session:
The conference will spotlight this trend through sessions including A Continuum of Care: Three Design Lenses For Behavioral Health and other discussions focused on mental and behavioral health environments.
Exhibitors to Watch:
illumiPure (Booth 107) is the inventor and manufacturer of CleanWhite LED, a patented white light illumination LED, used in standard fixtures that provides amazing benefits over traditional LED. By replacing the traditional blue light energy used to create white light with violet energy, CleanWhite LEDs offer all the benefits of conventional LEDs while adding eye health and safety, increased CRI, and antimicrobial protection in every light fixture, while being safer for humans than conventional LEDs. Their CleanWhite LED technology focuses on visual comfort and improved light quality, supporting the growing emphasis on sensory-sensitive healthcare environments.
Cortech (Booth 301) is a family-owned American manufacturer of furniture and products for Behavioral Health and other demanding environments. Their offering includes durable molded beds, seating, tables, desks, storage, and waste solutions designed to support safer, cleaner, and more dignified spaces. We work closely with facilities, architects, designers, and dealers to help create environments that perform under daily use while still feeling thoughtful, welcoming, and built for the people they serve.
Sky Factory (Booth 320), a global fine arts and technology company, creates biophilic illusions of nature™—Luminous SkyCeilings™, Luminous Virtual Windows™—and Digital Cinema systems, SkyView™, eScape™ and eSea™. These therapeutic, simulated views to nature trigger an automatic “Relaxation Response” that enhances psycho-physiological well-being, transforming enclosed interiors into restorative and healing environments.
3. Flexible, Future-Ready Care Spaces
Healthcare systems are prioritizing facilities that can adapt to changing care models, shifting patient volumes, and evolving technologies. Flexible exam rooms, modular construction, outpatient-focused facilities, and multi-purpose care environments are becoming essential as organizations seek resilience and long-term value from capital investments.
HFSE Session:
Designing Healthcare Infrastructure for Flexibility, Adaptability, and Future Expansion and Shell Space Fit Out Capabilities for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia session directly aligns with the Flexible, Future-Ready Care Spaces trend by examining how healthcare facilities can be designed to evolve alongside changing patient needs, medical technologies, and care delivery models.
Exhibitors to Watch:
Flexible OR Solutions (Booth 326) delivers MONOFLEX, a patented ceiling system engineered for unmatched flexibility, rapid reconfiguration, and seamless integration of evolving surgical technologies. With 30+ years of nationwide OR experience and over 700 projects completed, our VetHUB‑certified team provides innovative design and smooth installation for healthcare’s most complex environments.
Modular Services Company (Booth 311) has been manufacturing prefabricated healthcare products for over half a century. Modular Services Company exemplifies the Flexible, Future-Ready Care Spaces trend by delivering prefabricated healthcare solutions that help facilities adapt to evolving patient needs, accelerate construction timelines, and create scalable environments designed for long-term operational flexibility. Solutions range from headwalls to booms to complete patient room collections. With thousands of installations in all types of hospitals, of every acuity level, we are experts in helping you prefab your way to the perfect patient space!
- Human-Centered Design for Patients, Families, and Staff
The healthcare industry continues its shift away from institutional environments toward spaces that promote comfort, wellness, and connection. Designers and manufacturers are incorporating hospitality-inspired interiors, evidence-based art, family-centered spaces, and staff respite areas to improve experiences for everyone who interacts with the built environment. Supporting caregiver well-being has become just as important as supporting patient recovery.
HFSE Session:
Sessions such as Where Art Meets Care: Designing for Healing highlight how healthcare organizations are using design to create more equitable, welcoming, and restorative spaces.
Exhibitors to Watch:
Integra Seating (Booth 414) is the leading manufacturer of high-performance lounge furniture offering a remarkable combination of design, comfort, strength, and function. Numerous options give flexibility for any healing, learning, working, living, or social spaces, whether they are public or private. For over 44 years, we have designed and manufactured our products in the USA with sustainable features such as: component-based construction and superior strength with 1200+ lb. capacities. We offer a lifetime warranty even in 24/7 facilities.
Amico Corporation (Booths 315 and Amico Lights Booth 313) designs, manufactures and markets a broad range of products for virtually every department in the healthcare facility. Their mission is to design and deliver state-of-the-art products that facilitate the caregiver’s role in providing the best outcomes for patients.
Zurn Elkay Water Solutions (Booth 202) supplies the industry’s widest range of clean water solutions for drinking water, hygiene and sustainable water management. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Zurn Elkay Water Solutions works with customers around the globe to deliver products and systems that enhance and ensure water quality, safety, hygiene, flow control and conservation.
For more information about this year’s programming and exhibitors, please visit www.hcarefacilities.com.
ABOUT
The mission of the Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo is to ignite change and advance healthcare delivery through innovative physical spaces. Here, competitors become collaborators, clients become friends, and colleagues share fresh perspectives, research, and insights, driving forward the dynamic conversation of our industry. ###