Roger W. Gehrke

April 2017 Pioneer Award recipient

Roger Gehrke dedicated his career to serving the people of the State of Idaho as an innovator in the application of health care facility codes and standards, believing one should not sit back and let the past dictate the future. This approach was demonstrated through his expert leadership on the Guidelines Steering Committee and in efforts to update Part 1 (Functional Program, Safety Risk Assessment, Acoustics) and create an early version of the common elements of the Guidelines.

Mr. Gehrke joined the Health Guidelines Revision Committee in 1992, bringing with him a strong understanding of the implications that standards have—both positive and negative —on design and construction in the health care and residential care communities. He has proven to be a consummate deep thinker on what the language in the document truly means to the user. For several revision cycles, he has worked tirelessly to increase the quality of the Guidelines through exhaustive attention to detail, recommended changes to improve both clarity and consistency, and contributions to interpretations.