healthcare experience


Why hire an acoustical consultant?

Soundscape Engineering’s principal consultants have been assessing, advising, and designing to improve the acoustical environment in hospitals and other healthcare facilities for over thirty years. We guide designs to isolate inpatient rooms from traffic and other exterior noise sources and from activity in nearby rooms. We work with project architects to achieve speech privacy requirements for spaces where confidential information is conveyed. We work with project mechanical and electrical engineers to achieve sufficiently quiet levels of mechanical and electrical systems noise. We address vibration and sound isolation for MRI’s and other equipment. We assess designs for compliance with local ordinances that limit noise transmission from central plants to nearby residential properties. We work with owners, architects, and engineers. Soundscape’s principal consultants were contributors to the original white paper that informed the noise and vibration control aspects of the FGI Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals. They continue to be leaders in the FGI technical working group for sound and vibration. They have written papers and presented on topics involving acoustics and noise control for healthcare facilities for numerous organizations, conferences, and journals.


“We've been collaborating with Soundscape since 2011. Their expertise in noise control for healthcare environments, combined with their knowledge of the FGI acoustics guidelines, has consistently benefited our projects.”

Carl Johnson, Senior Architect
BSA LifeStructures


Sample of Soundscape Engineering's healthcare projects:

IU Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
Nursing unit expansion and Central Utility Plant

Genesee Health System
Flint, Michigan
Children’s Services Center

Kansas City VA
Kansas City, Missouri
Hybrid OR

Beaumont Health System
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
Penthouse AHU

McLaren Health Care
Lansing, Michigan
Medical Science Building and Cancer Center

McLaren Northern Michigan
Petoskey, Michigan
South Addition and Renovations

University of Michigan Health System Mid-Michigan Medical Center
Alpena, Michigan
Patient Tower

University of Michigan Health System
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Music Therapy Studios

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Medical Science Unit 1
Multiple Building Clinical Pathology

Detroit Medical Center
Detroit, Michigan
MUOB/Sports Medicine Institute
Harper-Hutzel Hospital

Hendricks Regional Health
Danville, Indiana
County Hospital Inpatient Unit

St. Vincent Medical Center
Fishers, Indiana
Inpatient Expansion

Advocate Good Samaritan
Downers Grove, Illinois
Hybrid OR

US Department of Veteran Affairs
Canton, Michigan
Outpatient clinic and medical office building

US Department of Veteran Affairs
Des Moines, Iowa
Medical office building

Advocate South Suburban Hospital
Hazel Crest, Illinois
Chiller Plant Addition

Advocate Christ Medical Center
Oak Lawn, Illinois
MRI Suite

Cook County Health
Chicago, Illinois
Harrison Square

Spectrum Health
Grand Rapids, Michigan
221 Michigan Street Recording Studio

Crittenton Hospital Medical Center
Rochester, Michigan
Mechanical Yard

Henry Ford Health Center
Plymouth, Michigan
Medical Office Building

Henry Ford Health System
Detroit, Michigan
Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion
Surgical Waiting Room
Interoperative MRI Sound Isolation

Henry Ford Health System
Royal Oak, Michigan
Medical Office Building

Cook County Health
North Riverside, Illinois
Cicero Health Center Renovation

Henry Ford Health System
Bloomfield, Michigan
Medical Office Building

Henry Ford Health System
Clinton Township, Michigan
Macomb Hospital - Infusion Pharmacy

Kishwaukee Community Hospital
DeKalb, Illinois
MRI Noise

Amita Health
Carol Stream, Illinois
Ambulatory Care Center

Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health
Lafayette, Indiana
Central Hospital Psychiatric Unit / Sleep Lab
Heart Institute

IU Health
Indianapolis, Indiana
Methodist Hospital OR

IU Medical Group Specialty Care
Indianapolis, Indiana
Springmill Medical Office Building
Chemo pharmacy Renovation

Ascension Providence Hospital and Medical Center
Southfield, Michigan
MRI Suite

Ascension Medical Center
Howell, Michigan
Medical Office Building

Bronson Health
Mattawan, Michigan
Skilled Nursing Facility

Soundscape Healthcare News

Impact of Acoustics on Patients and Resident Care

Our own Mandy Kachur recently sat down with "Between the Lines with FGI" podcast to discuss the impact acoustics has on patients and resident care. 

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Summit Panel on Healthcare Acoustics

Soundscape Engineering Partner and Principal, Mandy Kachur has been invited to participate on an expert panel discussing acoustics in healthcare on Monday, March 18th as part of the PDC Summit in San Diego.

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Soundscape Highlighted in Healthcare Design Magazine

Healthcare Design Magazine highlighted a Soundscape Engineering project, the Henry Ford Health System Bloomfield Medical Office Building, in their October 2020 issue. 

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HIPAA Violations of Speech Privacy

Have you ever been in a pin-drop quiet medical waiting room or pharmacy and needed to discuss your medical condition with a person behind the counter?  Was it uncomfortable because you knew others in the room could hear you?  Technically, this is a situation ripe for HIPAA speech privacy problems, where bystanders are able to overhear your medical conversations.

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