At Eckroth Planning Group, we provide principal-level consulting services with a high level of personal service to meet our clients’ needs. We strive to establish long-term relationships with our clients by exceeding our clients’ expectations on each project.

Our principals and senior consultants are subject-matter specialists with decades of experience in healthcare planning and programming – industry experts who have served in executive and clinical managerial positions in major medical systems and facilities.

Peter Eckroth, President and Founder of Eckroth Planning Group, has more than 35 years of experience in the strategic facilities master planning, programming and design of healthcare facilities. Clients have ranged from large healthcare systems to university teaching hospitals, tertiary care community hospitals to ambulatory care facilities.

His expertise ranges from strategic facilities master planning for major healthcare systems and university teaching hospitals to planning private physician joint venture groups. Peter is a subject matter specialist in Oncology, ED/Trauma, Imaging, OR/CV/IR and Ambulatory Care. After working for major healthcare consulting and A/E firms, Peter founded Eckroth Planning Group in 1995.

He is committed to creating planning solutions that optimize clinical processes and flow that result in operational savings for his clients.

John Sierra, Principal & Director of Eckroth Planning Group, has more than 30 years of experience in the planning, programming, and design of healthcare facilities. John’s expertise is culled from having worked on more than $2 billion in healthcare facility projects.

His areas of expertise include future visioning, strategic facilities master planning, functional and space programming, “order of magnitude” cost estimating, and cost/benefits analysis. For the past decade, John’s expertise and design philosophy has enabled him to respond to EPG’s clients’ needs while meeting the functional, aesthetic and financial priorities of their institutions.

John has served as chair/co-chair of the American Institute of Architects Chicago Chapter Health Committee for three years. He has participated in organizing more than a dozen local chapter and national chapter conferences for the AIA and CHEF.

Bart Thyer, Associate Director at Eckroth Planning Group, has more than a decade of experience in the healthcare industry. He has provided healthcare strategic facilities consulting to institutions ranging from large healthcare systems to university teaching hospitals, and tertiary care community hospitals to ambulatory care facilities. Bart has provided programming and planning for Academic Medical Centers, Pediatric Subspecialty practices, Cancer Centers, Cardiac Imaging Centers, Cardiac Physician practices, Emergency Departments, and Inpatient/Outpatient Bed demand including ICUs.

Bart serves to optimize a health system's assets by leveraging a data-driven approach to facilities consulting, programming and strategic facilities master planning. His passion for developing a cost-effective solution provides clinicians with the efficiency to deliver high-quality care.

He recently achieved a Fellows status with the American College of Healthcare Executives (FACHE) and also holds a Lean Green Belt credential by the International Association for Six Sigma Certification.

Charles Kunkle MSN, CEN, CCRN, BC-NA  With more than 30 years of experience as a nurse, Charles Kunkle has held multiple positions in emergency medicine, pre-hospital emergency medical services, and cardiothoracic intensive care units. He has honed his skills over the years in practice as a flight nurse, was named Nurse Manager of the Year by the Nursing Spectrum magazine in 2006, and was featured in RN magazine in 2007.

He is a contributing editor and author for Lippincott Publishers, and has been involved extensively in additional publications and books. Charles is also a motivational speaker who captivates the audience with topics such as leadership, patient satisfaction, employee engagement, and patient centered care. He is a trusted nurse leader with proven experience in program development, quality patient care delivery, cost reduction, and successful team building.

Mark Gudenas, Director of Marketing & Communications, brings more than three decades of experience in creating effective communications programs within the built environment to EPG. Mark authors EPG and client success stories, works with the trade and general media, and fosters business development efforts with the executive team.

In his national marketing leadership post at a $2-billion general contractor in San Francisco, Mark had the pleasure of working with Art Gensler and William McDonough, along with other distinguished architects. Mark’s extensive work in Green Building was featured in a book by Jerry Yudelson, and his publication writing and editing was recognized twice by the Construction Writers of America as the best in the nation.