IFHE Newsletter april 2026

woensdag 01 april 2026

IFHE President - Walt Vernon - AMFP, USA

During the past three years, I have served IFHE, as Second Vice President, First Vice President, and now, as President.

Around the world, we are seeing movements away from trust, away from collaboration. We are seeing movements that are operating from a place of fear; fear of people who are different; fear that if you win, I lose, and advocacy of a short-term, me-first attitude.

At the same time, we can see so many expressions of what Ezra Klein named "an Abundance Mentality". This is the philosophy that, when we work cooperatively, when we build each other up, when we work for the common good, we will all be better in the long run. As Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone said, “We all do better, when we all do better.”

And that, the abundance mentality, is what has driven the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering since its inception more than sixty years ago. As I step into this role, I think of the contributions that have been made by so many of you, and that are being made by you every day. Direct contributions to the facilities and the caregivers and the patients you serve directly; contributions to the national organizations you support, and who are part of the IFHE; contributions to the IFHE; and contributions that we have been able to make through the IFHE such as our collective volunteering to the World Health Organization during the recent COVID Crisis.

In recent years, for reasons of international law, IFHE has had to invest considerable resources into moving from an informal association of national organizations to an established legal entity in Switzerland, recognized as a tax-exempt organization. IFHE has restructured its financial arrangements, rewritten Statutes and Standing Orders, and built a long-range strategic plan.

I salute those on whose shoulders I now stand – retiring President Kevin Poggenpoel of South Africa; immediate Past President Steve Rees, of Canada; past Presidents Daniela Pedrini of Italy, Darryl Pitcher of Australia, Douwe Kiestra of the Netherlands, and so many more who I did not know, and who devoted their considerable talents to getting us all to this moment.

They, one and all, represented the strength of our diversity, of our Spirit of Abundance. They, one and all, pointed us towards the future that it is now time for us to build.

As members of the community of IFHE, we are the people in all corners of the world who are planning, designing, constructing, operating, equipping, and making safe the physical infrastructure of health. Healthcare professionals are the most trusted professionals in the world; and we are the people who help to build that trust in ways both tangible, and inspirational.

Let us at the IFHE, represent always, Abundance. Respect for others. Collaboration. Democracy. Truth. Commitment to Science. And the fact that, we all do better, when we all do better. IFHE is not a political organization. But, by representing what is best in people, in serving each other, and the health of the world, we can be a light to help others to see.

Now, coming out of the administrative and legal imperatives, it is time for us to start to become what we have the potential to be. Below, I will describe our workplan for 2026 to begin to build that Abundance.

As President of IFHE, I will have an open door. Please reach out to me anytime; you will always have a voice.

Designing healthcare buildings for extreme cold takes more than standard solutions.

On April 8, IFHE will host a global webinar featuring Peter Dushenski, Managing Director of GlasCurtain, exploring high performance glazing systems in healthcare environments.

Peter will share lessons from the Mental Health Unit expansion at Whitehorse General Hospital, where winter temperatures can reach –50°C. The session will examine how next generation curtain wall and glazing technologies can improve durability, reduce condensation risk, and lower lifecycle costs in cold climate healthcare facilities.

The same webinar will run twice on April 8 to support a worldwide audience. Closed captioning is available in many languages.

Session 1

Designed for participants in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle

East, and Southeast Asia

08:00 AM PDT on April 8

11:00 AM EDT on April 8

04:00 PM GMT on April 8

05:00 PM CEST on April 8

05:00 PM SAST on April 8

08:30 PM IST on April 8

Session 2

Designed for participants in the Americas, East Asia, Australia,

and New Zealand

04:00 PM PDT on April 9

07:00 PM EDT on April 9

08:00 AM JST on April 9

8:30 AM ACST on April 9

11:00 AM NVST on April 9

The 2026 IFHE Global Carbon Challenge, "Cut the Carbs" is

NOW OPEN.

The winners of this challenge will be advised in the lead up to the 2026 IFHE Congress in New Orleans in October and will be announced and celebrated at a special awards ceremony.

GET INVOLVED NOW - Click on the image above or visit

IFHE Carbon Challenge

As noted in the President’s report above, much of the leadership energy has been focused on the work required by the need to evolve IFHE into a legal entity in Switzerland.

At the same time, we have been able to implement some improvements in the IFHE infrastructure.

Under the leadership of Douwe Kiestra (Netherlands), we have been able to improve the newsletter communication to our members.
Under the leadership of Troy Savage (USA), we have established a program to provide Awards to IFHE members who are able to reduce their carbon emissions, an Award we give at our Congress every two years.
Under the leadership of Briseyda Resendiz Marquez, we have established graphic standards for IFHE.
Under the leadership of Darryl Pitcher (Australia) and Gunnar Baekken (Norway), we have done a first update of the IFHE website.
Under the leadership of Treasurer Matthias Schwabe we have restructured our fee structure so that they are fairer, including a discount for any country in lower tiers as defined by the World Bank, so we can encourage more people to join us.

Now, we have an ambitious plan ... this year, we plan to do the following:

We have launched, and we will continue, monthly educational webinars, available in many languages through zoom transcription, for all of our members. We are putting these in multiple time zones to make them more convenient. Recordings of the webinars are available after the event on YouTube via www.ifhe.info
We will develop an IFHE Continuing Education Unit that we will offer for IFHE educational content. This certification will be a Globally standardized credential, to members with their continuing education needs.
We will continue to improve our website and make it more interactive.
We will continue to seek ways to improve our communications with members, paying special attention to the varying needs of different generations, and the way they consume information.
We will continue to deepen our Strategic Relationships, today, with the International Hospital Federation, the World Health Organization, ASHRAE, and Healthcare Without Harm. We will formalize and deepen these relationships, and ensure that our members have access to their knowledge.
We will continue to provide pro bono services to the WHO in advisory, standard-setting, and emergency response to help those in need, to benefit from our collective expertise.
We will continue to maintain and strengthen our Awards Program. Our awards program recognizes and celebrates the incredible work of our members, which should help them in building their careers.
We will help each of our Regions – EU, Americas, North America, Africa, and Asia/Pacific to build capacity and effectiveness. We have set aside part of our budget to provide funding to each of these regions to help them.
We will grow membership in all categories.
We will develop more diverse sources of funding, including sponsorships.

This is an ambitious agenda! Together, we can do this, and, by doing it, continue to help all of our members, and all of the people we serve. It will take all of us, so we are always looking for people to step up and lead. Let us know if you are one such leader.

Preparation for the 2027 IFHE Digest is underway - and you are invited to submit abstracts for be considered by the review committee.

The IFHE Digest 2027 will examine a wide range of topics covering the optimal design, construction and operation of healthcare facilities.
Authors considering contributing an article should, in the first instance, email a synopsis, in English, of about 200 words to the editor at Step Communications editorial@ifhedigest.com. The synopsis should be received no later than Friday 19 June 2026
When the go-ahead for contributing has been given, the author must confirm that the article deadline, Friday 7 August 2026 will be met. Confirmation should be sent to editorial@ifhedigest.com
The full article must be written in English with a length of between 1,500 and 2,500 words. Brand/company names should not be mentioned repeatedly.
Article text should be typed using double line spacing with wide margins on each side of the page and with a space between each paragraph. The completed article, saved in a Microsoft Word document, should be sent to editorial@ifhedigest.com with relevant illustrations – these should be high-resolution jpeg images (minimum of 300 dpi and at least 75 mm wide) or contained within a Microsoft PowerPoint file.
A biographical note, of about 100 words, for each author should be submitted together with a high-resolution photograph of each author.
References must be listed in sequential order. If a published article is the subject of a reference, the surname and initials of each author must be included, along with, as applicable, the year of publication, the title of the article, the name of the publication (in full and italicised), the volume number, the part number (in brackets) and the page numbers. For example: Tennant R., Marsh P.L., Smitherson T.A. 2008 New approaches to hospital ventilation International Journal of Hospital Ventilation 19 (4) 145-148.