HKS Expands Western Health Practice Leadership with Arthur Brito and Wael Batal
-
Click here to listen to this article - Share via
Global design firm HKS has expanded its Health practice leadership across the West with the appointment of Arthur Brito as Partner and Regional Practice Director and Wael Batal as Vice President and Sr. Designer.
Together, Brito and Batal aim to strengthen HKS’ ability to help clients navigate the evolving needs of healthcare.
Shifts in care delivery, advances in technology, workforce needs and changing patient expectations are reshaping how health systems operate and how care environments must perform. Addressing these challenges requires more than designing individual buildings; it requires an integrated understanding of operations, design and the communities each organization serves.
“I’m excited to work alongside these amazing leaders as we continue to strengthen our Health practice. Each brings incredible expertise, perspective and passion to our work, and most importantly, a shared commitment to our clients, our teams and the communities we serve,” said Mitra Memari, Community Regional Director and Partner at HKS. “I’m looking forward to what we’ll build together.”
Brito brings 25 years of experience guiding healthcare organizations through complex planning and investment decisions. Over the past decade, he helped build HKS’ Health practice in Miami, developing deep experience working with health systems to shape strategies that respond to evolving clinical, operational and financial needs. In his new role, Brito will bring that perspective to the West, drawing on his background in both healthcare architecture and hospital administration to connect organizational priorities with thoughtful, evidence-based design. His approach centers on creating adaptable, high-performing environments that support evolving models of care, strengthen the experience of patients and staff and deliver long-term value for healthcare organizations and the communities they serve.
“I see an enormous opportunity to help health systems think more strategically about the decisions they are making today and how those decisions will shape the future of care,” said Brito. “Our clients need partners who understand both the operational realities of healthcare and the power of design to create meaningful change. My goal is to bring those perspectives together and help organizations make investments that are resilient, adaptable and focused on better outcomes for the people they serve.”
Complementing this strategic and client-focused leadership, Batal brings a broad design perspective shaped by more than 40 projects across 20 countries. Batal will advance design excellence for healthcare and institutional clients across California and the West, exploring how emerging design tools, technologies and approaches can translate organizational goals into high-performing environments. His work will help teams create spaces that meet evolving needs while advancing the long-term goals of healthcare organizations.
Information for this article was sourced from HKS.
