The Philanthropy That Makes Design Possible: OHSU Women's Health Center

Writing in Healthcare Design magazine, Susie Kasper describes the process that created "A supportive, sensitively designed women's health center" at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) "became reality, thanks to generous donors": "'People are just now coming to the realization that there is a sharp difference between men's and women's health, and in addition to treatment protocols, women respond to an entirely different set of visual and emotional stimuli.” This article has a large number of interesting visual images embedded within it.

Until its mid-2006 relocation to a 30,000-square-foot space at the newly built Peter O. Kohler Pavilion (named after the recently-retired President of OHSU) and all its philanthropic donations, the Center had been housed in an aging building called the Physicians Pavilion. “The Center came into being before we had the right space for it,” explains Dr. Cain. “The Kohler building was on the drawing board, and we knew we would relocate eventually, but we had to get our medical services up and going before that space could be realized.” However, OHSU had already received designation as a National Center of Excellence in Women's Health, and the medical and philanthropic communities were eager to frame this landmark concept in an innovative space.