Posts by Catherine Foster

Monika Smith, IIDA, RID, NCIDQ, Principal of Strategy and Design, touches 100% of Apex’s healthcare projects during programming and schematic design. Her organizing philosophy, “function before form,” means every design conversation resolves code compliance, staff flow, and patient flow before any aesthetic decision is made. The most common friction point she sees is budget expectations built on outdated references; the code detail that surprises clients most is that circulation space alone can eat up 30-35% of an ASC’s total square footage.

Based on Apex’s own 2025 project benchmarking, interior build-out costs across healthcare facility types range from roughly $160 to $425 or more per square foot, and ground-up construction costs range from roughly $225 to $525 or more per square foot. Each facility type, ambulatory surgery centers, office-based surgery suites, medical practices, dental offices, and veterinary clinics, carries its own distinct cost profile shaped by the regulatory requirements, equipment needs, and infrastructure intensity specific to that type of care.

Based on Apex’s “Beyond the Build” interview with Amy Anderson, MBA of ACG Practice Partners: patient experience in aesthetic and surgical practices is driven far more by behind-the-scenes operational process than by aesthetics. Key gaps include intake/discharge verification (illustrated by a real case of a patient discharged to a minor), inconsistent pre-op communication about day-of-surgery flow, sterilization and setup rigor, and onboarding for per diem staff. Quick wins: walk the full patient workflow with fresh eyes and consolidate pre/post-op instructions into one clear surgical packet.