Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020 - 21

"We have invested hugely in techBUILDING TEMPORARY
HOSPITALS
nology and training, so we already
had the IT structure in place when the
Early in the pandemic, when forecast
Bay Area shut down," says Jay Patil,
models predicted huge runs on hospitals
executive vice president at Brown and
in many cities, AECOM saw there would
Caldwell. "A lot of our clients, howbe a pressing need for emergency health
ever, were not as well prepared, and
care facilities.
we took that as an opportunity to help
"In the first few weeks, we submitted
them out and to make a difference."
more than 35 qualifications and proposal
The firm works primarily with
packages to the Army Corps in support
water and wastewater clients, and
of Federal Emergency Management
while these utilities are essential serAgency missions to build temporary hosvices, many of its employees were not
pitals, and we communicated with states
considered essential and had to obey
and municipalities about what we could
stay-at-home orders.
do for them," says Karl Jensen, executive
"We hosted webinars twice a week
vice president of AECOM's National
for our clients on how to operate
Governments practice.
virtually," Patil says. "Many of them
AECOM's first project was to build a
had Microsoft Teams but they had
temporary hospital on the SUNY Old
not enabled it fully. Our digital serWestbury campus on Long Island in
vices group showed them how to do
New York. The project, which AECOM
Excerpt from Brown and Caldwell's virtual workshop
that, how to set up and share files in
turned over to local authorities at the
training guide developed for water and wastewater utility
the cloud, and how to use all of the
end of April, has 1,000 beds, of which
clients, which includes tools, best practices, and lessons
learned to help them transition to virtual workshops.
features."
90 percent are designated for COVIDOver the first two months of the
19 care.
pandemic, the firm provided free
AECOM also was awarded contracts
training to several hundred staff members at over 120 clients.
to transform McCormick Place in Chicago, a fairground in
"We saw it as helping our clients continue to provide essential
Colorado, and three facilities in Rhode Island into temporary
services to communities where we live and they serve," Patil says. hospitals.
Because the utilities needed to continue to interact with state
As a construction manager, AECOM is committed to the
and regulatory agencies and the public during the shutdown,
safety of the workers on-site.
Brown and Caldwell created guidance to help them use tools
"We have had experience working with other epidemics-
and best practices to organize and conduct these meetings in a
Ebola, Legionnaires' disease, anthrax-so we know what to do,
virtual environment.
but it was still a learning experience every day," says Jensen. "We
"A lot of our clients had projects that are under construction,
had health and safety representatives on the teams from day one,
so we helped them with virtual tools and procedures to keep
establishing policies and ensuring people had training before
working," Patil says. "While the imposed restrictions added
they went on the site."
complexity and uncertainty, our clients have been able to pivot
One of the early challenges was acquiring enough personal proand emerge stronger to keep their projects moving forward."
tective equipment for AECOM staff and the subcontractors.
"We had some gear already, but we also got in touch with our
offices in China and other parts of Asia where the pandemic had
eased up to get additional equipment," Jensen says.
The challenge of working in difficult conditions brought out
"While the imposed
the best in many people, according to Jensen.
"We had a team member on one of our job sites who lost a
restrictions added
relative to COVID-19. We told him to take as much time as he
needed, but he came right back to the job because he said finishcomplexity and
ing the hospital would mean that others might not die."
uncertainty, our clients
Another employee had a heart attack and within a week was
lobbying
his doctor to let him go back to work.
have been able to pivot
"Engineers are essential, and putting them on this essential
and emerge stronger to work gives meaning to us as an organization and as a profession,"
Jensen says. "More than one team member has told me that these
keep their projects moving forward."
were the best projects they have worked on." ■
JAY PATIL
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
BROWN AND CALDWELL

Gerry Donohue is ACEC's senior communications writer. He can be
reached at gdonohue@acec.org.

SPRING 2020

ENGINEERING INC.

Engineering Inc. - Spring 2020

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