In late 2018, Smith Seckman Reid, Inc. (SSR), a leader among engineering firms in designing, consulting, and commissioning projects, acquired an Atlanta-based medical equipment planning (MEQ) firm. The acquisition was to better serve the needs of our healthcare clients across the country. In the nearly two years since, and as a response to the demands of the market, SSR has expanded our MEQ team, including four recent hires in Texas. Renee Mueller, Senior Medical Equipment Planner; Amber Narayanan, MBA, BSN, RN, CNOR, Medical Equipment Planner; Julia Gardner-Jones, LEED Green Associate, CLSSGB, Medical Equipment Planner; and Eric Shewski, Medical Equipment Planner, have joined the Dallas office to better provide exceptional experiences to our owner and architect clients.

Mueller brings with her 16 years of combined healthcare architecture and medical equipment planning experience. Her knowledge and experience of the design and construction process brings a unique perspective to the equipment planning role, allowing her to effectively communicate with the owner and design and construction team.

Narayanan has 12 years of collective clinical and new project development experience. She has created and implemented hospital equipment standards and processes that produced efficiencies and leveraged the buying power of multiple hospitals being built simultaneously within the hospital system. Additionally, her MBA adds a consideration of business implications to decisions the project team make.

Gardner-Jones and Shewski each bring nearly seven years’ experience with managing medical equipment planning projects on a large scale. They are experienced in every phase of a project, including inventory, move management, procurement, and coordination.

“Finding the right person in a role within a growing service line is always a challenge,” said Debbie Heitzman, Principal and MEQ Service Line Leader. “We have been fortunate with all of our hires for the Texas market. Each team member has project strengths, experience, and enthusiasm for their individual roles. We feel very excited for the future of SSR’s Medical Equipment Planning team.”

“We are enthusiastic about the continued growth of our Medical Equipment Planning group,” said Kevin Wolfford, Senior Principal. “Collectively, their depth of experience and varied expertise will provide the resources needed to provide an outstanding service to our clients in Texas and the surrounding region.”

Our MEQ team assists hospitals, architects, and developers with medical equipment planning services throughout a project’s life cycle, including inventory, procurement, transition planning, and move management. Our team of experienced consultants has provided services for new construction, renovation, and expansion projects ranging in size from 60,000 SF to nearly two million SF including projects on the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Steward Health St. Joseph’s Medical Center, CHRISTUS Spohn, and Cook Children’s Medical Center campuses in Texas. Additional information about our MEQ services can be found here.