88 www. bus- ex. com October 08 Memorial Hermann Health Care shaped building with a curved- glass front with an outside fountain that helps create a focused entranceway to the campus. " It's a building that would never be built by a community hospital, except for the fact that it was all you could do on that corner and on that site." The project was funded along with the others through a capital campaign the nonprofi t system ran in conjunction with its 100th anniversary. Another surge in building projects is already being evaluated by the system's board of directors as the expansion continues to meet the needs of the Houston area's population. A challenge for the system is dealing with the large number of uninsured patients who come through the doors each year, Wilkerson notes, with the region having the highest percentage of uninsured people in the United States. As those new building projects get under way, the same management approach and philosophy will be in place. Wilkerson's offi ce will continue to manage projects closely, using outside project management consultants on larger projects but keeping a close eye on all the work with regular meetings to keep driving home the need to stay " on schedule, on budget and on scope." " When you have the support from the senior leadership to stick to your guns, it makes it a lot easier to manage projects," says Wilkerson, who was in the midst of helping the system prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Ike in the South Texas area. " It really helps when you can be clear about expectations and pass that down to the architects, designers and contractors you work with. Everyone appreciates knowing they're on the same page."

A October 08 www. bus- ex. com 89 St. Francis Health System bout fi ve years ago, St. Francis Health System developed a long- range facilities master plan that would address the institution's growing role in delivering healthcare in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the surrounding suburbs. According to Robert Butler, senior vice president for facilities management, of the top ten priorities raised in the plan, eight have already been addressed or completed. In that time frame, St. Francis has converted a suburban hospital that was targeted to become a heart hospital— a joint venture with a team of cardiologists envisioned in the master plan did not come to fruition— into a medical surgical building, a $ 35 million renovation and conversion project. " Things haven't unfolded exactly the way we thought they would fi ve years ago. It's a dynamic market and Keith Regan details how St. Francis Health System has used close project management and oversight to keep its projects on track even as contractors are being tempted by other work Growingin abuildingboom