Cathy Dolan-Schweitzer | Construction Made Human™
I help healthcare leaders align project teams, get struggling projects back on track, and develop leaders who keep work moving.
The health of the team always shows up in the health of the project.
25+ years
in healthcare construction
The problem
Sound familiar?
The same issues come up meeting after meeting.
Deadlines pass, and nobody raises the alarm.
Communication breaks down and coordination suffers.
Stretched resources and inexperienced staff leave you chasing answers.
The problem isn't always the people. It's how they're working together.
I help healthcare construction teams uncover what's getting in the way, clarify responsibilities, and turn conversations into decisions and action.
Not another meeting about the problems. A better way to solve them.
My approach
I've spent more than 25 years managing complex construction projects. I know what an RFI is, what happens when a submittal sits unanswered, and how quickly a missed decision can affect a schedule.
I also know that the toughest problems on a project aren't always technical. They're about trust, communication, competing priorities, unclear responsibilities, and people trying to do their jobs under tremendous pressure.
That's why my work goes beyond traditional facilitation, team building, or leadership training. I understand the construction problems behind the conversations.
The realities of project delivery, owner expectations, design coordination, budgets, schedules, and construction operations.
Helping people communicate with confidence, handle difficult conversations, make decisions, and take responsibility.
Bringing owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and project partners together to identify problems and establish practical working agreements.
Understanding how stress, relationships, and workplace conditions influence behavior, collaboration, and results.
The goal isn't to make everyone agree. It's to help people work through their differences and keep the project moving.
The Health Well Done Framework™
The Health Well Done Framework™ gives healthcare construction leaders a common language for connecting the health of their people and teams to the quality of the projects they deliver.
It starts with understanding yourself, grows through relationships and trust, and shows up in how teams make decisions, solve problems, and build environments that support healing.
Healthy People
STEADY
See It | Understand yourself. Understand others.
Recognize your strengths, reactions under pressure, and impact on others. Understand what people need to succeed.
Healthy Team
TRUST
Say It | Build trust. Speak openly.
Strong relationships help people raise concerns early, share bad news, respect one another's expertise, and work through differences.
Healthy Project
LEGACY
Solve It | Make decisions. Deliver together.
Turn trust and communication into timely decisions, shared accountability, effective solutions, and a quality healthcare environment.
The health of the team always shows up in the health of the project.
Kathleen Silard, President & CEO of Stamford Health, describes the Health Well Done Framework™ as a common language for addressing the operational consequences of how project teams work together.
Read Kathleen Silard's Foreword →How we work together
Pathway 1
Start aligned. Stay aligned.
Preventative team alignment and project kickoff facilitation
The best time to establish how a project team will work together is before the pressure hits. And if a team alignment or partnering workshop is already required in your contract, let's make it count. Don't just check the box.
Pathway 2
When the project is moving, but the team isn't.
Intervention for healthcare construction teams under pressure
Decisions aren't moving, communication has deteriorated, and the same issues keep returning. An independent, construction-fluent facilitator helps you Discover, Reset, and Reinforce.
Pathway 3
Technical expertise gets people promoted. Leadership helps them succeed.
Leadership development for project managers, superintendents, and technical professionals
Practical coaching and leadership development that helps technically capable professionals become more effective leaders—sponsored by their own firm.
Virtual Lunch & Learn | 60 Minutes | $750
Why do experienced project teams struggle to communicate, make decisions, and follow through—even when everyone knows their job?
Drawing from 25+ years in construction and interviews with 21 industry professionals for my Construction Made Human™: Teams Under Pressure white paper, this interactive session explores what happens when project pressure begins affecting people and performance.
Participants will learn:
Designed for construction companies, engineering firms, owner organizations, and professional associations.
60 minutes. $750. Virtual delivery.
Practical ideas your team can use right away.
Experience + research
25+ Years
Managing complex healthcare, education, and commercial construction projects.
21 Industry Interviews
Owners, architects, engineers, contractors, and healthcare professionals contributed perspectives to Construction Made Human™: Teams Under Pressure.
Published Author
Health Well Done: A People-Centered Management Approach to Building Healthcare Environments.
Real-World Team Facilitation
Supporting complex healthcare construction teams through discovery, alignment, facilitated retreats, and reinforcement coaching.
My white paper, Construction Made Human™: Teams Under Pressure, explores what happens when pressure builds on healthcare construction teams—and what leaders can do before communication, relationships, and decision-making begin to break down.
The findings reinforce a lesson I've learned throughout my career:
Projects rarely get into trouble all at once. The warning signs often show up in how people are working together long before they show up in the schedule.
Meet Cathy
I'm Cathy Dolan-Schweitzer, a construction professional, author, speaker, and leadership advisor with more than 25 years of experience managing complex healthcare, education, and commercial construction projects.
I've sat through the difficult OAC meetings, chased unanswered RFIs, navigated competing priorities, and felt the pressure of being accountable when so much depends on other people.
But my experience goes beyond construction. My background in special education, master's degree in Integrative and Experiential Health and Healing, and personal journey through cancer taught me to look beyond the symptoms of a problem and understand the whole person.
Today, I combine construction fluency with leadership development and a people-centered approach to help teams communicate, make decisions, and move projects forward.
Because projects don't build themselves. People do.
Whether you're preparing to launch a new healthcare construction project, trying to get a struggling team back on track, or developing the next generation of construction leaders, let's talk about what you need.
We'll start with what's happening on your project or inside your organization and determine whether Construction Made Human™ is the right fit.
