Build more meaning: Building the care she once relied on

For Stephanie Thomas, healthcare construction isn’t just a market sector. It’s personal. 

As an assistant project superintendent in our Central Michigan region, Stephanie has spent much of her career helping build the spaces where some of life’s hardest and most hopeful moments unfold. Medical service buildings and imaging suites; these aren’t just projects on her résumé. They’re places that intersect directly with her own story. 

A connection with healthcare 

That connection started early. Before she ever stepped onto a construction site, Stephanie worked as a medical assistant for a multi-specialty surgical practice. She understood how clinics functioned, how rooms were used, and what doctors and nurses needed to do their jobs well. When she decided she was ready for a career change, that medical background came with her, just in a different form. 

“I was looking for a change,” she said. 

That path led her to Christman and to some deeply meaningful projects. She was part of the team that built the Izzo Family Medical Center, a medical services center by McLaren. While Christman was building the Sparrow Cancer Center, a project that coincided with one of the most challenging chapters of her family’s life. 

“That same year, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer and was receiving treatment,” Stephanie said. 

Launching a support campaign 

While balancing the demands of the job, Stephanie found a way to channel her emotions into action.

She discovered that Sparrow lacked a program that allowed donations for cancer patients. 

Stephanie launched the idea of such a program to Sparrow’s breast cancer awareness liaison and took the lead in launching a Pink Campaign across the entire jobsite and the Lansing office. 

The result? More than $6,000 raised and presented in October 2016. 

Her mother underwent about a year of treatment, including surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Today, she’s thriving, recently reaching her 10-year mark. 

“Now she’s free and clear.” Stephanie said with a smile. 

The impact of that campaign reached even further. Christman later won another Sparrow project in part because of the fundraiser and the relationships it helped strengthen. Stephanie is currently building that new project, a new Sparrow two-story medical office building made up of clinics, imaging, rehab, and a pharmacy. 

Care close to home 

The idea of bringing care closer to home is what keeps her motivated. 

“It takes on a whole different level of ownership,” she said. “I know how hard it can be to find these services that are provided, so when we can build these places with additional state of the art services in locations closer to home, we are reducing wait times for people who this could be life or death for.” 

That sense of purpose became even more personal in 2023, when Stephanie’s husband suffered a life-threatening, work-related injury and was treated by University of Michigan Health, now part of the Sparrow healthcare system. 

“If it wasn’t for University of Michigan, he wouldn’t have lived,” she said. 

The experience reinforced everything Stephanie already believed about healthcare, as well as the people and places that make it possible. 

‘Way more meaning’ 

“As someone who’s been the patient, the wife of a patient, and the care provider, I know how important it is to have the tools you need to care for the people that you serve,” she said. “It has way more meaning. It’s a lot like building a school. You know that what you’re building has way more of an impact than steel, a roof and windows. It’s going to have a huge impact on a community.” 

That perspective shows up daily on her job sites. On past projects at McLaren and Corewell, Stephanie built strong relationships with staff, often acting as a bridge between clinical needs and construction realities. 

“The relationships that I built at the last job, I was very intertwined with the staff there,” she said. “With my medical knowledge from before, about how rooms are used and how doctors use things, it was a huge help.” 

It’s that blend of technical skill, lived experience and genuine empathy that makes Stephanie such a powerful presence on healthcare projects. She understands that what’s being built isn’t just a building; it’s access, dignity, and, in some cases, a second chance at life. 

For Stephanie, that’s what makes coming to work everyday worth it.