The Leaflet
Of the People, By the People, For the People: Creating Healthcare Environments that are Loved
By Annette Ridenour, President & CEO, Aesthetics Inc.
Adapted from her keynote address at the 2025 Healthcare Facilities Symposium & Expo (HFSE).
When my mother took her last breath, she did so in a hospital room that was sterile, windowless, and cold. The walls were a tired shade of green, the fluorescent lights flickered, and there was nothing in that space that reflected warmth or care. The last thing she saw wasn’t her family—it was the flickering light on the ceiling. That moment changed the trajectory of my life.
It sparked a question that has driven me for more than four decades:
What if every place we go for care was so welcoming, so comforting, and so beautiful that it became part of the healing process itself?
The Forgotten Standard: “Loved”
In healthcare design, we often measure everything—safety, efficiency, sustainability, and evidence-based performance—yet “loved” rarely makes the list. And yet, when people love a place, something extraordinary happens: they trust it, they care for it, and they protect it.
Designing spaces that are loved isn’t merely about aesthetics for its own sake. It’s about forming emotional connections—creating environments that comfort the fearful, uplift the weary, and honor the dignity of everyone who enters.
This idea has guided my work at Aesthetics Inc. and is reflected in a simple but powerful framework inspired by Abraham Lincoln’s words: Of the People, By the People, For the People.
- Of the People means engaging staff, patients, and families as active decision-makers.
- By the People means inviting them to co-create spaces that reflect their voices and values.
- For the People means designing environments that serve not just physical health, but emotional and spiritual well-being.
These are not lofty ideals. They are the foundation to design spaces that people genuinely love.
The Science of Beauty and Belonging
Today, neuroscience confirms what many of us in the healthcare design field have intuitively felt for years: Being in an environment that positively resonates with you, can have a similar emotional effect on us as being in love with a person. When people are in spaces where they find beauty that they relate to, their brains release neurochemicals—such as dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin—that are associated with feelings of love, calm, and trust. These emotions help reduce stress, improve mood, and can even support the body’s healing processes.
The emerging field of study, known as neuro-aesthetics, demonstrates that our environments are not neutral; they are powerful influences on how we perceive and respond to the spaces we inhabit. In healthcare, this means that design decisions can have a direct impact on health outcomes. By designing for beauty and a sense of belonging, we create spaces that promote healing.
Designing With, Not For
Early in my career, I overheard a group of nurses say, “Let them spend all the money they want—six months from now, we’ll be back to doing things the old way.” That moment was humbling. It reminded me that no amount of design brilliance can compensate for a lack of engagement.
At Aesthetics Inc., we’ve learned that true transformation occurs when the people who use a space are part of its creation. Involving staff, patients, and families in visioning sessions, workshops, and creative collaborations ensures that the environment reflects their desires—not just our vision.
One of my favorite examples of this approach comes from Penn State Health in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. As the organization prepared to open a new hospital, leaders asked a profound question: How can we make this place feel like it belongs to everyone? Together with their Director of Humanities, Claire DeBoer, we formed a multicultural art committee composed of community members and staff. We specifically sought artists of color to ensure the collection reflected the diversity of the region.
The result? Over 25% of the art featured diverse perspectives—far above the industry average. Patients began to say things like, “I’ve never seen someone who looks like me on these walls before.” That’s not just inclusion—it’s belonging. And belonging is one of the deepest expressions of love.
Community as Creator
We’ve witnessed the same power of collective creation at Montreal Children’s Hospital, where a visioning session led to something extraordinary: a 15-by-30-foot mural made from 750 individual tiles painted by patients, families, caregivers, and community members. Each participant received a small canvas and a few colors to express whatever they wanted. When assembled, the tiles revealed the Montreal skyline and an image of a mother and child whale.
When the mural was unveiled, the room was filled with the very people who had helped paint it. They weren’t just looking at art—they were looking at themselves, reflected in their healing space. That’s the essence of “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Four Pillars of a Loved Space
Throughout my career, four guiding principles have shaped how I approach every project—from children’s hospitals to rehabilitation centers to community clinics:
- Never Stop Learning – Every challenge and mistake is a classroom.
- Design Beauty That Moves People – Beauty with meaning heals.
- Build Relationships That Last – Collaboration is the soil where great ideas grow.
- Lead with Courage and Heart – Because leadership without heart is hollow.
When we design healthcare environments through these lenses, we create not just facilities, but supportive communities.
What We Protect, We Love
Over the years, I’ve noticed a pattern: hospitals and clinics that are loved don’t just age well—they endure. Staff take pride in them. Communities rally around them. Administrators fight to preserve them.
Why? Because we protect what we love.
That’s why our design goals must extend beyond compliance and efficiency. We should be asking:
- Does this place feel safe?
- Does it foster connection?
- Does it reflect the people who use it?
- Does it support the dignity of all patients, families and staff?
When we design with beauty, empathy and courage, we create places that don’t just serve care—they inspire it.
A Call to Leaders and Change Agents
As healthcare leaders, designers, and decision-makers, out facilities must reflect the best practices and state of the art technologies. In addition, we need to design environments that improve the experience of being in a medical center for all of the people who visit and work there. When we invite people into the process, they don’t just use the space, they love it, they protect it, they make it their own.
We need:
To listen deeper.
To invite more voices in.
To create places that are not just for people—but of them and by them.
When we do, the patient who walks in afraid will feel calm.
The nurse who walks in exhausted will feel valued.
The family member who walks in heartbroken will feel hope.
Because in the end, we’re not just building healthcare environments.
We’re building trust.
We’re building community.
We’re creating environments that are loved.
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Annette Ridenour is the president and founder of Aesthetics, Inc., and has led the field of healthcare design for over 45 years. For these nearly five decades, Aesthetics has collaborated with hospitals, clinics, and wellness centers throughout the U.S. and Canada to create spaces that promote healing, reduce stress, and reflect the values of the communities they serve.
