Cuningham welcomes Alyssa Scholz as Executive Director of the firm’s Healthcare Studio.
Alyssa brings more than 20 years of leadership designing world-class healthcare environments that catalyze medical innovation and create exceptional patient and caregiver experience. At a time when the market has never been more complex, her differentiated perspective gained from working on both the owner and service side of the profession allows Cuningham to shape the future of healthcare through cutting-edge design.
“It cannot be overstated the impact Alyssa will have on the firm’s teams and clients,” Cuningham CEO Jacqueline Dompe says. “Her passion for designing places that enhance social and environmental wellness is inspiring.”
A Holistic Approach to Healthcare Design
Alyssa’s design philosophy is rooted in inclusive engagement practices that respond to the diversity of needs within healthcare communities—from executive leadership to caregivers, residents, visitors, and staff. Experience gained during her time with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles gives Alyssa a unique understanding among design professionals of what it takes to run a hospital—from day-to-day logistics to the patient experience.
“From managing client costs to designing with human experience at the forefront of every decision, my experience on the owner side gives me a holistic understanding of the healthcare ecosystem,” Alyssa says. “It allows the teams I lead to create spaces that stand the test of time.”
Alyssa has worked with almost every major medical center in California. Her extensive experience includes high-profile, large-scale projects for Hoag, Kaiser Permanente, Scripps, Cedars Sinai, UC Davis, Stanford, and UCSD, among many others.
Most recently, Alyssa was the co-leader of Gensler’s global healthcare practice, where she pioneered new models of care delivery to increase patient-provider loyalty while reducing costs, optimizing operations, and providing the infrastructure to fuel discoveries. She will lead Cuningham’s healthcare studio with a similar goal of advancing transformative healthcare design that empowers patients and improves public health.
