Medical Construction maintains a focus on health care industry
BY MARDY FONES
SPECIAL TO NASHVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL
Fulfilling a life long dream of business ownership was Wade Putnam's goal when he founded Medical Construction Group, Inc. in 1983. "I got started in the late 1970s with General Care Corp. as a project manager building their owned hospitals, but then they were acquired by HCA," says Putnam.
His subsequent employer, Hospital Affiliates International, also was swallowed by the burgeoning HCA. It was part of an early 1980s trend of consolidation among a handful of health care giants and one that motivated Putnam to create his own firm.
"I thought, 'If I don't start my own business now, I never will,' so I borrowed against everything I owned and came up with $200,000. It was more of a line of credit and, really, it wasn't enough to start a business," Putnam admits.
Today, Medical Construction has $30 million in revenue and anticipates to top $40 million in 2003. As the winner of Nashville Business Journal's small business award for firms with 51-350 employees, Medical Construction, with just 55 employees, has carved a niche in an industry that is dominated by large competitors.
Even so, Medical Construction is always in demand. Recent projects include $11.6 million renovations of two psychiatric buildings at the Alvin C. York Veterans Administration Hospital in Murfreesboro and $8.8 million in additions and renovations at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, N.M. The company recently was awarded a contract for $50 million in construction and renovation at Williamson Medical Center in Franklin.
"In the beginning, my goal was to build a company based on advocacy on behalf of every client. The second goal was to dedicate this company to providing construction services to the health care industry alone," says Putnam.
Construction for health care providers differs vastly from general commercial construction, says Putnam.
"For one thing, the building codes are more complex and strict and they're constantly changing. Take, for instance, the fire codes. In most public buildings, the focus is on evacuation. In a hospital, because people can't always be evacuated, the focus is on containment."
Much of Medical Construction's success is built on doing smaller projects such as ambulatory care centers and primary care hospitals in rural settings. It's a niche where the company can bring its knowledge and skill in preconstruction planning and work closely with both clients and architects. The net result is tightly focused bids, a partnership approach and a "do anything" attitude. Pre-qualification of subcontractors is another Medical Construction priority. "Your subs do 85-90 percent of your work, so you want to be sure they're familiar with the codes," he says.
Putnam says Medical Construction's reputation is built on lasting customer relationships and being responsive.
"Over the years, we've had 12 projects in Idaho. They just keep asking us back," says Putnam.
While growth is a priority for Putnam, controlling that growth and having the right people on staff are overarching themes.
"I just don't see us opening branch offices. I want to be able to take care of the employees we have, so that if there's an economic downturn I won't be laying people off. It's just a commitment on my part. If you get so large you lose control due to outside factors, you become more and more about the bottom line and less and less about people."
