APG MILESTONE: DESIGN AND BUILD A GREENFIELD HOSPITAL

In December of 2019, APG Engineering was awarded a contract to provide MEPFT design services on a brand new healthcare campus - BayCare Hospital Wesley Chapel. Nearly a year and a half later, in April 2021, APG was awarded a construction contract for the electrical and fire alarm systems. While we have decades of experience in healthcare design and construction, this project marks the first time that we have both completely designed and then built a hospital from the ground-up. This is an incredible accomplishment for our company and we’re immensely proud that BayCare and Construction Manager Robins & Morton have entrusted us to deliver their vision. 

The process began with months of coordination between the APG Engineering team and a large group of trade designers and consultants. We provided construction documents for the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and technology systems. The project consists of a 320,000 square foot, six-story hospital tower with an emergency care unit and an intensive care unit. The patient tower is connected to a three-story medical arts building and a central energy plant. Engineering such a complex critical care facility requires an incredible attention to detail, and our experienced team has been up to the challenge from the beginning. Vice President of Engineering Mike Dobbs and Director of Engineering Rolando Alvarez have led the charge, even as an unprecedented global pandemic necessitated major design changes. For example, many areas of the hospital will now be capable of maintaining negative air pressure to handle a large volume of patients who need special care for dangerous respiratory conditions like Covid-19. 

After building documents were finalized in November of 2020, the project broke ground and APG was awarded the construction contract after a competitive bidding process. With a combined total of 45 years of healthcare construction experience, Senior Project Manager Austin Buxton, Project Manager Tommy Poore, and Project Superintendent Eric Beal were the perfect team for the job. Concrete was already being poured as we mobilized on site, so laying out sleeves and conduit clearances was a critical first step for our work. BIM Specialist Jordan Sibbach tackled this task immediately and has assisted our field team in preventing clashes between our work and what’s being installed by other trades. With an anticipated completion at the end of 2022, we still have plenty more to do. Over 60 of our technicians will bring their talents and can-do attitude to this project site and, to them, we say “THANK YOU!” 

Building just one hospital of this size and caliber could be the highlight of any contractor’s career, but APG is currently involved with several at the same time. We’re able to successfully manage them all because of the decades we’ve committed to finding and training the best and brightest electrical construction team in Tampa Bay. Our hundreds of journeymen and certified technicians enable us to staff major projects in a way that our competitors simply can’t match, and our engineering team gives our clients confidence that there is no job we can’t handle. With the in-house ability to completely design and build some of the largest and most critical buildings in the state, APG offers something stunningly unique in the industry. 
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Congratulations to everyone involved with this project so far. Please keep up the exceptional work, and look out for a Pipeline update on our progress next year!