Become CHID Certified

Enhance your professional credibility by earning the CHID credential. Application deadline: May 1, 2022.

Learn More

Recognizing excellence, commitment, and knowledge

Whether you’re a healthcare interior designer looking to boost your professional credibility and help advance the field; or someone looking for a highly qualified healthcare interior designer to join your team, you’ve come to the right place. AAHID’s Certified Healthcare Interior Designer (CHID) credential recognizes excellence, commitment, and knowledge of this complex discipline.

Committed to creating the best environments for healthcare delivery, Certified Healthcare Interior Designers are the most qualified to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of patients, residents, and staff in hospitals, clinics, and residential care facilities.

Become a CHID

Find out how this credential sets you apart.

Why hire a CHID?

Search our directory of qualified healthcare interior designers.

Support us

Become an Industry Partner.

Our partners are industry leaders

We value partners who transform the healthcare environment into one for healing, improving outcomes and maximizing efficiency.

Find Out More

Jerry Oksner, (former director of Program Management at ADAMS Management Services)
Administrative Director of Facilities, St. Anthony North Health Campus

For more than two years, Lori led a multidisciplinary team of designers, vendors and contractors to envision, procure and install more than $12,500,000 of furniture and integrated information technology for the state-of-the-art William T. Clements University Hospital at the UT Southwestern Medical Center. Lori actively collaborated with her customers to successfully balance dynamic cost and time constraints and to maximize quality and value. Adept at communicating with all audiences, Lori is a proactive and reliable partner who adds value through her on-going design research and articulate aesthetic insights. I look forward to future opportunities to work with Kilter (https://www.thekilter.com/)and Lori McGilberry.

Jim Bistolas, National Sales + Healthcare Segment Director
Gerflor

Lori brought the rich experience of her diverse interior design career to Gerflor and contributed to the company from a unique approach and perspective. Due to her key position within the design industry, including her tenure as president of the American Academy of Healthcare Interior Designers, Lori brought credibility and focus regarding the design process to Gerflor that we had not had in the past. Lori is always proactive in pursuing the best, evidence-based methods to build our brand, develop our product and educate our team about design in general and healthcare design in particular. Lori facilitated focus groups vetting new product prototypes across the US and collaborated with our US marketing team and design team in France based on the results, providing invaluable product insight. Lori speaks design easily to many different audiences and effectively builds design “bridges.” We look forward to continue working with Lori in the future.

Lori McGilberry

CHID, RID, EDAC, NCIDQ
“Lilliana was a savior for our latest project in Atlanta. Our company had been struggling for years with all aspects of the interior design of our communities. She joined our team late in the process with construction well underway. Lilliana immediately went into action and pulled together all aspects of the design including flooring, wall coverings, art, proper painting and accent colors as well as accessories and icons which are so crucial in the daily care and well being of our residents. Most importantly she made sure we did not continue to make the same mistakes of the past. Everyone who has seen our Atlanta community is frankly in awe of the design. I would give Lilliana my highest recommendation.

Kevin A. DiBona
Chairman & CEO, The Memory Center

Lilliana’s attention to detail is outstanding. She carefully researched the impact of color on healing in psychiatric settings and chose color schemes that were truly transformative. She designed homelike features such as “integrated beds” that mimic a sleigh bed for patient comfort. She creatively used millwork for shelving in patient rooms, for flexible and durable entertainment centers, and in creating seating arrangements for maximum comfort and privacy. As part of her work on the above projects, Lilliana researched furniture specifications for psychiatric facilities to help us select products that are safe, durable and comfortable.”

Gerri Cote, LICSW
Vice President of Operations, Brattleboro Retreat

“Lilliana took the time initially to truly understand our vision of what we wanted the patient experience to be, and how we hoped they, their friends and family, would “feel” as they are in our facility. Our ultimate hope was that our hospital did not have an institutional feel. We stated we wanted the unit to feel like a high-end hotel that just happened to provide medical care, without spending a fortune to do it. According to our own assessment, and the evidence collected through both anecdote and responses from our formal patient satisfaction surveys, we’ve accomplished this goal, in no small way thanks to Lilliana’s execution of our vision. She succeeded in using natural tones and materials, and a neutral palette to allow the space to remain contemporary while “fitting” with the rural elements of our community.”

Michael D. Peterson, FACHE
Chief Administrative Officer, Sebasticook Valley Health

“Lilliana develops interior design plans working closely with the deign team, and does a great job listening to, educating, and incorporating staff and end user suggestions into a comprehensive design ideally suited for the function of the space. In addition, she has been able to successfully balance our request to incorporate organization standards while creating exciting, vibrant, healing environments for our patients. Lilliana’s collaborative and open design process, coupled with her experience and level of research has produced excellent healing environments within our organization. Patients, visitors and staff have overwhelmingly offered positive comments on our newly renovated spaces.”

Domenic J. Ciavarro
Vice President of Facilities, Concord Hospital

Lilliana Alvarado

CHID, EDAC, IIDA, NCIDQ, LEED AP
I was inspired to sit for the AAHID exam by my mentor, Elizabeth Brawley. Betsy is a nationally recognized Interior Designer and Researcher specializing in Built Environments for those with Alzheimer’s. After already having been in the design profession for 10 years, I joined THW Design 16 years ago after finally listening to my passion of designing environments for our senior community. I have taken other certification exams, but to become CHID – Board Certified meant more to me because it meant pushing my knowledge base NOT only in the Senior Healthcare industry but also in other healthcare delivery components. In the end, all these various healthcare services are interrelated. Preparing for the AAHID exam was intense but very beneficial. It has proven to be one of the best moves and testament to my passion of being a Healthcare Interior Designer. The value of now having been Board Certified means clients can be more confident that the discussion I help our team be a part of is solid and credible.

Melinda P. Avila-Torio

NCIDQ, RID, CHID, CASP, LEED AP