CENTRE NEWS

Ken Upchurch Becomes President and CEO of The Centre for Health Care Planning

Former CEO Mary Huston McLendon and COO Donna Finney Will Retire

            NASHVILLE, TN (8/11/05)– J. Kenneth (Ken) Upchurch, AIA, has become president and CEO of The Centre for Health Care Planning, a Nashville-based firm that provides space needs assessment, planning and programming services to support health care construction projects.

            Upchurch assumes ownership of the firm and succeeds Mary Huston McLendon, who is retiring as the firm’s CEO, and Donna Finney, who is retiring as the firm’s COO. Both McLendon and Finney, The Centre’s owners since 1995, will continue to consult with the firm, which works with hospitals during the planning phase of construction projects to determine how much capacity is needed for each service the hospital will provide going forward.

            The Centre also provides medical equipment planning services to support health care construction projects.

            “I have worked with Ken Upchurch since The Centre was founded in 1992, and he’s the ideal candidate to take over as CEO,” McLendon said. “He’s a talented planner with an intuitive understanding of hospital operations, which is complemented by his architectural background. While The Centre doesn’t provide architectural design services, the architectural firms we serve find that Ken’s architectural experience is a real asset during the planning phase, resulting in plans they can readily translate into efficient designs.”

            Upchurch, who graduated from the University of Tennessee’s School of Architecture and is a member of the American Institute of Architects, has 25 years of experience in health care planning and design.

            The Centre’s staff also includes senior planner Debra Pritchett, a 30-year industry veteran whose career includes experience as a hospital-based materials management director and a hospital equipment planner, and clinical planner Leslie Homra, RN, MBA, who works with hospitals’ clinical staffs to ensure that construction plans meet the needs of the physicians, nurses and other medical staff who will provide patient care.

            “Hospital construction is very expensive, which makes it essential for hospitals to minimize the risk of costly mistakes, such as building more or less space than you need to serve patients – or offering the wrong mix of services,” Upchurch said. “The Centre has worked with individual hospitals and hospital companies to develop sound plans for health care construction since 1992, and that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

            The Centre also provides health care network planning as well as litigation consulting services to support property tax appeals. “By helping health care operations focus on the front-end issues that have a long-term impact on a project’s success and the return on investment, we shape the owner’s vision into well-defined needs that can be addressed in the facility or operational design,” Upchurch said.

            The Centre for Health Care Planning is an experienced consulting group that specializes in network, facility and operations planning services to support health care projects. Highly regarded by health care facilities and health care systems throughout the United States, The Centre has completed more than 500 facility master plans, market and space needs analyses, feasibility studies and other projects since its founding in 1992. 

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