Broaddus & Associates, one half the Broaddus-LeVis partnership that is overseeing the massive project of reshaping JPS Health Network, has built a reputation as a premier builder of hospital facilities in the state of Texas.
Experience is a key factor when it comes to turning a hospital that employs 7,200 people and plays host to more than 1 million patient visits a year into a construction site. Scot Sanders, Chief Operating Officer at Broaddus, said it’s a complicated feat to make everything come together while keeping the vital service the health network offers open for business every single day.
“Any contractor can build a strip mall,” Sanders said. “We have more than 20 years of experience working on projects in the Texas Medical Center in Houston for just about every hospital system there. It’s one of busiest medical hubs in the country and, usually, those buildings have to stay in operation while we work. These kinds of projects are our niche. They’re interesting and it’s fun to see it all come together just right.”
Mark Hallman, Vice President, Chief Innovation and Transformation Officer at JPS, said that experience is key to keep things moving on the health network’s landlocked campus just south of downtown Fort Worth.
“This is a very exciting time for the community,” Hallman said. “It’s not often that you have a chance to do something that is going to make life better for people in such a meaningful way for decades to come.”
Broaddus has completed major healthcare projects that include:
The National Laboratory & Institute for Human Infections and Immunity at the University Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
The Methodist Hospital's 1.6 million square foot Outpatient Center at the Texas Medical Center in Houston
The 15-story Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston
In Tarrant County, their work includes the $74 million Vandergriff Civil Courts Building in downtown Fort Worth.
While the company’s portfolio makes it a logical fit to manage the massive job of overseeing the $800 million bond construction project passed by Tarrant County voters in November 2018, the work also has a very personal connection for the senior project manager.
Broaddus & Associates Senior Project Manager
Darrick Walls was once Director of Design and Construction for the health network, his tenure spanning from 2003-2005.
“This is a very exciting job for me, personally, because of my connection to JPS and because I live in this community,” said Walls, who described himself as a fourth-generation Tarrant County resident. “A lot of the things that are finally happening today, we were talking about doing 15-16 years ago. They’re things that were desperately needed even back then. I’m thrilled to be able to be a part of finishing that job.”
Walls said he, and other Broaddus team members from the company’s office in Arlington and other locations across Texas, are eager to make a lasting impression on the Fort Worth skyline.
“We have a lot of healthcare experience and we’ve developed a very strong portfolio in that field,” Walls said. “We’re looking forward to building facilities to serve the citizens of Tarrant County that everyone will be proud of for years to come. It’s an honor to manage this project.”