Birmingham is home to several designers and builders who are involved in a large volume of healthcare construction across the nation. Brice Building Company Stability is the theme at Brice Building Company. Founded in 1931, many of the firm’s 300 employees are second and third generation team members. 75% of Brice’s work is for repeat clients, with some relationships continuing for over 50 years. Brice has been working with Children’s Hospital since 1987. The contractor is currently involved in an extensive Emergency Department renovation at Childen’s that should be completed next year. The company has been awarded the lead contractor position on a $98 million cancer research center in New Orleans. Pending approval from the Louisiana Office of Facility Planning and Control, construction is expected to begin on February 18th, with completion projected for 2009. Brasfield Gorrie Brasfield Gorrie has grown from a $1 million sales company in 1964, after Miller Gorrie bought the then 43 year-old firm, to a company that currently does over $1 billion in annual revenue and is ranked by Forbes as the 276th largest privately held company in the nation. Brasfield Gorrie has 21 divisions that focus on specific construction markets. The healthcare division has done extremely well, leading the company to be ranked 6th in the top 25 in healthcare by Engineering News-Record. In 2006, Modern Healthcare ranked the contractor first among the nation’s healthcare general contractors. The Burell Group Andrew Burell, AIA started working on healthcare projects in 1984, when as an architect with Gresham Smith, he designed the outpatient surgery center at Medical Center East. From there, his involvement in healthcare steadily grew and today his architectural practice, The Burell Group, focuses on healthcare design, specializing in hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, diagnostic centers, and nursing homes. They are currently working on the Gadsden Endoscopy Center, a 5800 square foot gastroenterology ambulatory surgery center, which should be completed in September 2008, as well as a number of out-of-state projects, including ambulatory surgery centers in Joliet, Illinois and Lebanon, Tennessee. Doster Construction In 1969, after returning from Viet Nam, Thomas Doster launched Doster Construction. He began as a one-man show, operating out of the trunk of his car, but within a year, he won a competitive bid for a project at the University of Alabama, where he delivered a good product on time. Since then, Doster has grown to one of the nation’s top 400 contractors. Doster Construction is a general contractor with a focus on healthcare, which represents approximately half the company’s business. Modern Healthcare Magazine consistently ranks Doster among the nation’s most active healthcare general contractors. Over the years, Doster Construction has done work for a number of hospitals, including Carraway Medical Center and UAB West. The contractor is currently working on an $18 million addition and renovation to the Huntsville Surgery Center, as well as an $11 million critical access hospital in Liberty, Kentucky. M.J. Harris M.J. Harris has come a long way, since Bobby Harris and son, Michael Harris, founded the company in 1995. Last year, Modern Healthcare Magazine named M.J. Harris in the top ten general contractors nationwide. The contractor has a number of big projects underway. They are working on an 185,000 square foot patient tower in the River Oaks Hospital Complex in Flowood, Mississippi, as well as a major renovation to the AnMed Health Medical Center in Anderson, South Carolina, which will be completed in six phases over a 26-month period. They have also started construction on the Good Shepherd Institute for Healthy Living in Longview, Texas, where the project team is aiming for a LEED (leadership in energy and environmental design) Silver rating. This will be the first Green Building project for M.J. Harris. Robins and Morton Robins and Morton has been in business for over 60 years. The contractor has completed more than 700 healthcare projects across the country and has been ranked nationally as one of the top five healthcare construction firms by Modern Healthcare Magazine. The company is currently working in 16 states on projects totaling more than $1.5 billion. This year, they will complete construction of a 100 bed acute care hospital in El Paso, Texas. In 2009, they will finish a project in Waco, Texas that includes an 89 bed women’s and children’s hospital with a 198 bed community hospital. February 2008