Brian Henks discovered his passion for healthcare through medical planning. While pursuing a Master of Architecture degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, he dedicated his extracurricular time to pursuing independent studies, extra classes, and research on architectural trends in healthcare to understand the industry from the ground up. After graduating in 2016, he joined Hoefer Welker where he spent five years of close mentorship working alongside Hoefer Welker’s lead medical planner before absorbing the responsibilities of the role in 2020.
Since then, he’s taken up the charge of medical planning for some of the firm’s most impactful healthcare projects, including an inpatient and outpatient facility for Eglin Air Force Base in Okaloosa County, Fla.; the Sage Memorial Hospital, a critical access care facility for Navajo reservation residents in Ganado, Ariz.; and an emergency department at St. Francis Hospital in Grand Island, Neb., where he’s tasked with keeping the hospital’s operations running while improving overall flow. He kicked off 2022 stepping into the role of medical planner for the AdventHealth Cancer Center in Merriam, Kan., a 70,000-square-foot, three-story facility with various departments of care for cancer patients.