154 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 companies that specialize in road and bridge work and industrial projects. " Healthcare projects are inherently challenging because every provider wants to build the best and latest technology into its facilities," says Williams. " We would love to be able to standardize them and build them like we do a convenience store, with the soda machine here and the coolers over here. But every project is different, and all the medical directors and doctors are very informed and educated and have

afterward, with some projects slowed or shelved. " We ended up with access to a lot of highly qualified contractors and specialists who have become key parts of the team." As the project turns the corner into its last several months of construction, significant work remains to be completed and some major decisions still need to be made. Because technology changes rapidly and because equipment can be a significant portion of a project's total budget, healthcare project owners are therefore more likely to want fast- track projects and tend to make later decisions on medical equipment and other amenities that can impact larger design considerations. " It has forced us to be very flexible and creative on scheduling and sequencing," says Williams. " But when the entire team is working together well, those things can happen without slowing down a project. I believe from a contractor's perspective that it leads to better work in the end as well. It's all about the quality of the communication during the process, and if that's working, it can go very smoothly." Austin Commercial: Methodist West Houston Hospital JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 155 their own ideas about how things should be set up. The architect may bring in a design based on best practices, but the chances that there will be changes are good." The new Methodist West Houston project will bring advanced treatment for cancers previously only available at the system's Texas Medical Center facility. The hospital will be equipped to be a full- service imaging center utilizing a 64- slice CT scanner, a PET CT and a 3T MRI machine. The nearby office building will feature the latest in diagnostic imaging technology, including a linear accelerator and HDR equipment. The project is one part of a $ 1 billion expansion and improvement project for the Methodist Hospital System. When design work began, Williams says, there were concerns that skilled subcontractors might be hard to source. " When we first got the contract, it seemed as if most healthcare providers in the city of Houston had large building programs they were working on," he recalls. The economy went into a downturn almost immediately