Spotlight on Daniel Buehler, Welbeck Health

Daniel, can you tell us a little about Welbeck Health Partners and your role?

At Welbeck Health Partners, our mission is to roll out a series of private day case surgery units across the UK, with an ultimate goal of moving into international markets.

My role as Chief of Planning and Capital Projects sees me working closely with our development and operations teams to plan new facilities. This includes finding estates to build in, preliminary design of the centres and managing construction. My team is also responsible for maintaining facility operations after the centres open.

What does your average day look like?

I have a bag that contains about 20 hats – which I interchange throughout the day! I switch between an architect hat, a construction hat, a planning hat, a budget hat, a legal hat and a mentor hat. I need to get better at wearing my “recharging my batteries” hat!

Can you tell us about the people you work with?

I serve on the Executive Leadership Team with our CEO, CFO, Chief Clinical Officer, Chief Development Officer and Chief of IT Infrastructure. We all have very different skillsets, personalities and experience, but we have managed to knit our talents together in a way to have a common vision. It is a very powerful team and I am fortunate to be part of it.

How did you get to where you are today?

I am an architect by training and worked my entire career in Nashville, Tennessee. Interestingly, HCA was founded in Nashville back in 1968 resulting in the city growing into what is now the epicentre of healthcare in the US, which explains my focus on healthcare architecture.

I moved from private practice to working for one of my clients, AmSurg, and spent the last 20 years building dozens of day case surgery centres across the country. An opportunity arose to expand our delivery model internationally – so a group of investors and some key AmSurg alumni came across to start Welbeck Health Partners in 2017.

What do you like most about being based in the Harley Street area?

The more I learn about this area, the more I am amazed at the history and the people who have lived and worked here. Incredible talents like Lionel Logue, Sir Paul McCartney, Charles Dickens…even Henry Higgins!

How could a visitor to the area spend their time here?

I’d spend some time reading about the Marylebone area before I arrived and plot out a walking tour route.

Arrive at Bond Street or Oxford Circus Stations and make your way to the corner of Regent Street and Margaret Street so you can spy All Souls Langham Church, The Langham Hotel and BBC Studios before heading west along New Cavendish Street. It is a short walk to Harley Street where you’ll turn south to walk past an array of Blue Plaques before arriving at Cavendish Square. Head west on Wigmore Street and you’ll pass a great assortment of shops, restaurants and pubs. Not technically in the HSMA is St. Christopher’s Place which is a wonderfully rich collection of the avant garde. Find your way south through the one meter wide “alley entrance” that pops you back out onto Oxford Street.

If you have time, spend some time north of Wigmore Street in the Marylebone area – full of history, pubs, bookstores and fashions that you won’t find anywhere else.

Any particular recommendations or hidden gems?

I found the Golden Eagle Pub on Marylebone Lane one evening where there was a fantastic group of folks singing to a piano player (Tony “Fingers” Pearson). Don’t miss Daunt Books on Marylebone High Street – if Harry Potter had a bookstore, Daunt’s would be it. St. James’ Gothic Church on George Street is amazing. Ginger Pig, La Fromagerie…shall I go on?

If you could describe the Harley Street area in three words, what would they be? 

World-class medical heritage