In the West Michigan Is Going Places series, we are talking with local business owners and community leaders about their business successes and challenges and highlighting the resources available in the West Michigan business community.
In this interview, we spoke with Lorissa MacAllister, the founder of Enviah, a certified women-owned consulting firm that helps healthcare leaders integrate operational strategy with the built environment. Enviah partners with hospitals nationwide to improve outcomes, strengthen organizations, and use space as a powerful tool for transformation.
CC: Could you tell us a little about what your business does and how it got started?
Lorissa MacAllister: Enviah is a certified women-owned consulting company that partners with healthcare executives to improve operations and outcomes and ultimately strengthen organizational success. Too often, challenges in healthcare aren’t just operational; they’re also tied to the spaces in which care takes place.
In my years as a healthcare architectural planner, I saw firsthand how space was often designed in isolation from operations and organizational strategy. This fragmented approach created barriers to efficiency, well-being, and long-term success. I founded Enviah to change that.
We build a bridge between operational strategy and the built environment, ensuring that both work seamlessly together. Using evidence and data, we help organizations create spaces and systems that don’t just function—they perform.
What kinds of products or services do you offer, and who are your main customers?
Lorissa MacAllister: We provide consulting, strategy, and planning services for hospitals across the nation. Our primary clients are independent hospitals with 400 or more beds, as well as hospital systems experiencing growth, mergers, or innovation in their models of care.
What sets our work apart is that we bring a holistic perspective, integrating operational strategy, organizational goals, and the built environment. This ensures that growth and change aren’t just managed, but leveraged to create healthier, more resilient, and higher-performing organizations.
How has your business changed since you first started out?
Lorissa MacAllister: We began 15 years ago by creating tools for the architectural planning community. During those first five years, we focused on developing a rigorous, science-based methodology to bring greater clarity and evidence into planning.
In the next five years, we shifted our focus toward hospital systems, partnering with architecture firms to provide deeper insights into business strategy and operations. This allowed us to help organizations strengthen outcomes such as patient and staff experience, market capture, and brand integrity.
Over the most recent five years, our work has expanded to include direct partnerships with healthcare leaders, becoming an extension of their teams to improve organizational performance and plan for the future with data-informed decisions.
Today, we’ve built an internal tool that rapidly models options and outcomes, giving clients the ability to make informed decisions that account for capacity, efficiency, and experience. This brings strategy and environment together in a way that is both practical and visionary.
What makes you passionate about what you do?
Lorissa MacAllister: Healthcare is broken in many ways, and too often space is overlooked as both a cause of problems and a pathway to solutions. As an industry, we tend to see facilities as expenses rather than assets, yet excess or poorly used space often creates inefficiencies and barriers.
I am passionate about helping healthcare leaders recognize space as a strategic tool. When used intentionally, it can unlock better outcomes—supporting staff, improving patient experiences, and strengthening organizational performance. Even subtle changes in how space is designed and used can profoundly influence a person’s sense of support and well-being.
I saw this firsthand when I was a practicing social worker in a hospital. Moving a crucial conversation from a busy hallway to a private conference room changed not only how the care was delivered, but also how it was perceived. That experience underscored for me the untapped power of space in shaping healing and trust.
At Enviah, we are building the science to prove this impact and striving to become the industry benchmark for integrating space and strategy in innovative ways. For me, it’s about more than “space”—it’s about creating place: places that align with purpose, foster healing, and empower people. That “why” is what drives everything we do.
What made you choose to set up shop in West Michigan?
Lorissa MacAllister: I grew up here and have always seen West Michigan as a supportive environment for innovation. From global furniture leaders like Steelcase to groundbreaking health system innovations such as BAMF Health, this region has a strong culture of forward-thinking. There’s a spirit here that’s always looking for what’s next, and that makes it an ideal place to grow Enviah.
What makes your business unique to the competition?
Lorissa MacAllister: Enviah is one of the few firms that specializes in healthcare with such a holistic approach. What sets us apart is that we are not only practitioners, we are also researchers and thought leaders, actively publishing as the field evolves.
We don’t just respond to industry trends; we help shape them. By bridging practice and research, we are framing both the future of our firm and the future of the healthcare design field itself.
What are your short-term and long-term goals for the business?
Lorissa MacAllister: In the short term, our focus is on strengthening Enviah’s presence and recognition as a trusted consulting partner for healthcare organizations across the country. We are already working coast to coast, and our immediate goal is to expand awareness of our firm so that more hospital systems understand the value of integrating space, operations, and strategy.
Looking long term, our vision is to become the industry leader in healthcare consulting on a national scale. We plan to deepen our impact by expanding our partnerships, growing our team, and continuing to develop tools and analytics that help organizations make data-informed decisions with confidence. Ultimately, we see ourselves leading industry-wide programs in analytics and strategy—helping set the standard for how healthcare organizations use space as a lever to transform outcomes.
Are there any local organizations or networks that have been particularly helpful for you in building your business?
Lorissa MacAllister: Know Honesty and the EOS model for small business.
