Episode 77, Mike McKay, AIA, ACHE, EDAC, LEED AP, Healthcare Market Sector Leader for Erdman

"Can we design a small enough hospital where the intimacy of care matches the human scale, more

residential than institutional?" — Mike McKay on the Healthcare Interior Design 2.0 podcast On today's episode of Healthcare Interior Design 2.0, Cheryl welcomes Mike McKay, AIA, ACHE, EDAC, LEED AP, Healthcare Market Sector Leader at Erdman.

Mike's relationship with architecture began early — really early. In kindergarten, he was already building little cities in his basement to the scale of his Matchbox cars. Years later, during his last year at Ball State, a difficult four-day hospital stay gave him a deeply personal understanding of how healthcare environments can affect patients — and why, as Mike says, "we can do better."

Cheryl and Mike explore Erdman's fascinating roots through founder Marshall Erdman, whose relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright helped shape the firm's early thinking around design, construction, prefabrication, and integrated project delivery. They also discuss Erdman's 1950s Doctors Park concept, a forward-thinking model that brought multiple physician practices together in a more accessible, community-based setting.

The conversation also touches on Beverly Willis, FAIA, women in Frank Lloyd Wright's studio, Erdman's "under one roof" legacy, and the role of daylight, nature, evidence-based design, collaboration, and human scale in healthcare environments.

At the heart of the episode is a question that feels both simple and profound: can we design healthcare environments where the intimacy of care actually matches the human scale?

In this episode, Cheryl and Mike discuss:

Mike's early path into architecture and healthcare design

How a difficult personal patient experience shaped Mike's healthcare design perspective

Marshall Erdman's relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright

Erdman's early work on the First Unitarian Society Meeting House in Madison

Prefabrication, industrialized construction, and Erdman's "under one roof" approach