Gensler Expands Global Healthcare Practice with Four Senior Leadership Hires Across Key U.S. Markets

New leaders in Philadelphia, Tampa, Chicago, and Houston accelerate the firm’s strategic growth in people-centered, research-driven healthcare design.

SAN FRANCISCO — Gensler announced it has hired four senior healthcare leaders across the United States, marking a significant step in the continued expansion of the firm’s healthcare practice. Colleen Harrington, Melanie Harris, Eric Koffler, and Annabella Koloskov join the firm in leadership roles in Philadelphia, Tampa, Chicago, and Houston, respectively. These strategic hires strengthen Gensler’s national expertise — advancing the firm’s capabilities in medical planning and healthcare strategy while deepening regional leadership in key markets.

Gensler’s Healthcare practice is a global network of strategists, planners, architects, and designers dedicated to transforming how and where care is delivered. Connecting research, data, and human-centered design, the practice partners with leading health systems, academic medical centers, and community providers to create resilient, adaptable environments that improve outcomes for patients, caregivers, and communities.

“The addition of Colleen Harrington, Melanie Harris, Eric Koffler, and Annabella Koloskov represents a powerful investment in the future of healthcare design at Gensler. Each person brings deep expertise across interiors, medical planning, strategy, and delivery — strengthening our ability to design environments that elevate patient experience, empower caregivers, and drive operational excellence. Their leadership expands our geographic reach while amplifying our integrated approach to design innovation. Together, their extraordinary talent positions us to accelerate the growth of our healthcare practice and reinforces our ambition to be the most impactful and forward-thinking healthcare design firm in the world,” said Alanna Carter, Global Healthcare Leader at Gensler.

In Philadelphia, Colleen Harrington joins Gensler as a Senior Healthcare Interior Designer, bringing two decades of experience dedicated exclusively to healthcare environments. Her expertise spans the full project lifecycle, from early visioning and stakeholder interviews through planning, finish selection, documentation, construction administration, and furniture implementation. Colleen is deeply committed to the craft of healthcare interiors, balancing highly technical performance requirements with thoughtful, human-centered design. She is particularly passionate about oncology environments, most recently contributing to the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Morris Cancer Center, one of the nation’s few freestanding cancer hospitals. A dedicated mentor and team leader, Colleen, thrives in collaborative environments where design excellence and technical rigor work hand in hand to elevate the patient and caregiver experience.

“Healthcare design asks you to hold two truths at once: these spaces must perform at the highest technical level, and they are also the backdrop to some of the most vulnerable and hopeful moments in a person’s life. I have always been inspired by that tension,” said Colleen. “If thoughtful design can make even one patient’s day less stressful or support a caregiver in doing their job better, that is meaningful work. What excites me about Gensler is the opportunity to push that impact further, pairing deep healthcare expertise with research, innovation, and big-picture thinking that can truly reshape how these environments feel and function.”

Melanie Harris, AIA, joins Gensler as the Southeast Region’s Healthcare Practice Area Leader, based in the Tampa office. With more than 20 years of experience leading high-impact healthcare initiatives across the United States, she reimagines environments that elevate healing, advance equity, and shape the future of care delivery. Both architect and strategist, Melanie brings a disciplined lens for pattern recognition, an ease with complexity, and a gift for aligning people and systems towards purposeful, human-centered design leadership.

“Gensler is a place where bold ideas don’t just live on paper; they become catalysts for change,” said Melanie. “Our commitment to creativity, impact, and radically human design aligns deeply with what healthcare, and the world, need today.”

Based in Chicago, Eric Koffler, RA, IIDA, EDAC, LEED AP, WELL AP, joins Gensler as a Medical Planner & Healthcare Architect. He brings a dynamic viewpoint shaped by his experience as both a medical planner and an interior architect. Eric centers patient experience and satisfaction as the cornerstone of good design and has helped shape millions of square feet of healthcare space over the course of his career. His work spans complex inpatient and outpatient facilities and emphasizes the alignment of clinical operations, staff workflow, and human experience. His attention to detail has also led to collaborations on award winning healthcare product collections that enhance performance and comfort in care environments.

“Healthcare spaces are complex because clinical operations, staff workflow, and patient experience all need to work seamlessly together,” said Eric. “I’m excited to join Gensler and help shape environments where clinical insight, human experience, and architectural craft intersect, translating those priorities into settings that truly support the people who deliver and receive care.”

Joining the Houston office as Healthcare Planning Director, Annabella Koloskov brings nearly four decades of healthcare planning experience shaped by an early and enduring interest in medicine. After earning a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry, she worked in clinical research before completing a Master of Architecture and broadening her perspective through international study. Annabella’s work spans the full planning continuum, from master planning and programming to design and documentation. She is known for an open, collaborative approach that blends clinical understanding, patient advocacy, and design expertise, with a strong emphasis on LEAN principles and evidence-based decision making.

“My path into healthcare design began with a lifelong connection to medicine and early experience in clinical research, which shaped how I listen to clinicians and advocate for patients,” said Annabella. “At Gensler, I’m excited to bring that perspective to a moment when design is rapidly evolving — with new tools, data, and expectations reshaping how we plan. The opportunity now is to stay deeply human-centered while making smarter, more agile decisions that improve outcomes for patients, caregivers, and communities.”

To learn more about Gensler’s Healthcare practice, visit Healthcare | Expertise | Gensler.

About Gensler

At Gensler, the value of our work stems from its positive impact on the human experience. We are a dynamic and collaborative design firm uniting creativity, research, and innovation to solve complex problems for our clients. Our work challenges conventional ideas about architecture and the built environment. We aren’t just designing buildings — we are reimagining cities and places that make a difference in people’s lives. Founded in 1965, Gensler has built a team of 6,000 professionals who partner with clients in over 100 countries each year. Everything we do is guided by our mission: to create a better world through the power of design.