Skanska tops out on $435M Florida hospital | Dump Trucks Charlotte NC

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Skanska USA has brought a $435 million Florida hospital to new heights.

The U.S. arm of the Stockholm-based builder topped out on Lee Health’s forthcoming hospital and medical office building in Fort Myers, Florida, the contractor announced Wednesday.

To date, the five-story hospital has reached several construction milestones. Skanska and its 56 trade partners on the job have worked over 720,000 hours with roughly 700 workers on site each day. The team has poured over 33,000 cubic yards of concrete and installed 12 miles of gas piping, per the release.

“Reaching this milestone underscores the extraordinary teamwork and dedication of the many local, small businesses who are helping to bolster the local economy as we drive this innovative healthcare project forward,” Bob Kramer, vice president and account manager for Skanska's Florida building operations, said in the release.

The hospital, designed by Madison, Wisconsin-based Flad Architects, is located on the 52-acre Lee Health Fort Myers campus. When finished, the building will encompass about 400,000 square feet of healthcare and office space. Additionally, a 122,000-square-foot medical office building will house an ambulatory surgery center.

Construction of the project will incorporate resiliency and sustainability measures for maintaining continuous healthcare operations in Florida’s climate. 

In a first for a Lee Health facility, an emergency makeup water well will keep air conditioning systems functional during municipal water disruptions. Other resiliency features include redundant power systems, dual-fuel generators and a reinforced building envelope engineered to withstand winds up to 150 miles per hour. The site has been elevated beyond 100-year flood projections, with an extra foot added to strengthen protection against rising floodwaters.

Phase One includes 18 operating rooms and 168 patient rooms — including 24 ICU beds — and 44 emergency department beds. The completed project is scheduled to open in 2028.

Healthcare construction and planning has remained a healthy sector amid more languid results in other sectors, according to Dodge Construction Network. As some nonresidential projects have stagnated in recent months, healthcare stood out as a relative bright spot, along with the booming data center market.