Martin Misicko, EdD, vice president, facilities operations, design and construction, engineering and maintenance, emergency management and safety, environmental services, and sustainability, Carilion Clinic (Roanoke, Va.)
Armed with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University; a Master of Science in mathematics, physics, and secondary education from Duquesne University; and a Doctorate of Education in administration and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh, Martin Misicko joined Carilion Clinic in 2016.
In his current position, he oversees operations of seven hospitals and approximately 110 ambulatory sites. As a champion for the organization, he’s noted for his ability to recognize healthcare trends while creating new ways to address some of healthcare’s most pressing challenges.
He’s played an instrumental role in advancing the organization’s facility operations, pandemic and healthcare-associated infections (HAI) reduction initiatives, as well as interior environments to create uplifting and comfortable patient care areas.
For example, during the Crystal Spring Tower project at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital in Roanoke, Va., he took the opportunity to incorporate lessons from the pandemic to improve the facility’s resiliency and pandemic readiness for future events.
This included a mechanical design that can flex 24 emergency department (ED) rooms and 64 inpatient rooms across two floors to negative pressure; using hospital-grade HEPA filters in all areas of the hospital to remove airborne pathogens; and increasing the humidity system in both the tower and ED to support reducing airborne pathogens and HAIs without added energy costs.
Even while introducing advanced systems, Misicko is cognizant of the health system’s bottom line. For example, during the tower expansion project, he advocated with leadership to convert to a cogeneration system at the central energy plant.
Recognizing the system was an upfront expense, he showed that the electrical reduction achieved by investment in the system and how it uses heat from the generator to create hot water for heating the tower and existing hospital would pay off in utility cost savings while having a positive environmental impact.
Looking beyond mechanical systems and operations, Misicko is also focused on improving the patient experience. Specifically, he partnered with the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke to establish a “Healing Ceilings” program whereby school children and local artists created 353 ceiling tiles to be displayed throughout patient treatment areas.
While adding to the care environment, the program has also had an impact beyond hospital walls, making the community “more aware of Carilion’s commitment to making its patients stays as comfortable, uplifting, and emotionally supportive as possible,” notes a museum spokesperson.
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