In states like Oklahoma —­ where the health care system ranks near the bottom nationally — the challenge is especially urgent. Families across all 77 counties often travel out of state for life-saving treatment, emphasizing the need for modern, accessible pediatric care closer to home.

Expansions and renovations of children’s hospitals play a vital role in meeting this demand. Construction of these projects can strengthen entire health systems by replacing aging infrastructure, increasing capacity, consolidating services, and creating spaces that enable cutting-edge research.

When planned and executed with care, expansion and renovation projects not only improve existing campuses, but also help healthcare professionals transform outcomes and give every child the best possible chance at care.

As a local construction management firm with over $11 billion in healthcare revenue over the last decade, JE Dunn’s healthcare experts deliver tailored solutions through high-touch, community-focused teams. Every project is founded on key best practices, ensuring project success and optimal outcomes throughout the construction journey.

Keep reading to learn some of our team’s best practices for expanding or renovating an active children’s hospital.

1. Communicate early and often to prevent disruptions to care

Major campus additions and renovations can require phased work and often-changing traffic patterns. Minimizing the impact these activities have on patient care is imperative. Early, effective communication partnered with ongoing collaboration between hospital leadership and the construction management team is key to successful hospital-centric construction planning.

When JE Dunn led the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital PICU renovation, the team partnered with staff in the surrounding units to establish highly effective, real-time communication protocols for use during emergencies, patient census changes, or in other special patient and staff considerations.

This planning and communication helped achieve buy-in, set expectations, and assured all stakeholders of the team’s dedication to patient safety, comfort, and healthy futures.

2. Prioritize patient safety and comfort

Constructing for our community’s tiniest patients means heightened consideration for patient safety and well-being is necessary — especially with patients who require extra precautions.

During the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital PICU renovation, the team posted floor plans on the floors surrounding construction and coordinated with charge nurses daily to identify and flag areas with extra sensitive patients. This approach ensured areas — and patients — requiring extra care and caution were well marked and communicated to the entire team.

Throughout the PICU renovation, JE Dunn’s healthcare experts also took extra care to reduce construction noise and vibration. In addition to utilizing vibration and sound monitoring and dampening techniques, the team also provided single-use, size-appropriate, noise-cancelling earmuffs to the hospital for use as needed with patients.

3. Advanced technology

Healthcare is evolving rapidly, especially with the emergence of AI, digital diagnostics, multi-disciplinary care teams, data-rich systems, and personalized treatment innovations.

When involved early in the conceptual design and planning process, construction managers can use forward thinking to ensure construction investments future proof the facility, setting providers up to be leaders of patient care, education, and research for decades to come.

JE Dunn’s healthcare leaders help craft flexible infrastructure plans that position facilities for adaptation of next-generation technology and future growth plans. When appropriate, we also utilize delayed medical equipment procurement strategies to allow the selection of cutting-edge equipment as late in the process as reasonably possible. Plus, the use of scalable plans helps accommodate for future patient volume and service lines shifts.

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For two years, the then project manager and her team witnessed the level of care hospital staff provided to patients and their families. What she saw hit close to home and made an impression on JE Dunn’s commitment to community involvement in Oklahoma to this day.

“At the time I’d just come off maternity leave with my first child,” Ali, the now project director, said. “Throughout construction, I was very aware that if something were to happen to my child, the building we were working on is where we would go to receive care. The staff we interacted with daily were the people I would trust to help us.”

JE Dunn’s Oklahoma City Office opened in 2008 with a commitment to building inspiring places that would help the state grow and flourish. Since then, the State of Oklahoma has experienced exponential levels of population and financial growth. In fact, U.S. News and World Report recently ranked Oklahoma City as the best big city to live in nationwide.

“Oklahoma City is growing,” said Forrest Wilson, leader of JE Dunn’s Oklahoma offices. “In the years to come, it will be imperative that our city’s infrastructure keeps pace with the growth so that we can maintain our affordability, quality of life, and job market strength.”

To fill this need, institutions across the state are turning to community builders that can leverage technology and expertise while preserving what made Oklahoma worth growing in the first place.

Since 2018, JE Dunn has completed 75 projects for 32 different healthcare facilities across the state – eight of those projects for Oklahoma Children’s Hospital. From systems upgrades to major relocations, renovations, and additions, the local team is invested in meeting the state’s needs.

“The vast majority of our work is done to improve the community,” Ali adds. “A lot of the healthcare facilities we’re going into are aging or older, and we’re increasing capacity and improving patient care.”

But at JE Dunn, community building does not start, or end, with the work done on any given project site. Instead, it extends into every facet of the places JE Dunn teammates live and build in as they strive to be authentic community members. JE Dunn’s corporate philanthropy impacts the many markets around the nation where the company builds, investing 10% of net income to nonprofits and empowering employees to make an impact through volunteerism and an employee match program.

“We are part of a very, very tight knit and giving community,” Jentri Whitford, Manager of the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital’s Child Life Zone & Special Events emphasizes. “We’re very lucky to have a lot of the donors that we have, but there’s something very different about partners like JE Dunn.”

Jentri and her coworker Belinda Anderson, Manager of Volunteer Services at Oklahoma Children’s Hospital, have become well acquainted with Ali and the entire JE Dunn team over the past six years. The pair work with JE Dunn on volunteer activities that bring fun and lighthearted moments into young patients’ and their families’ days while receiving care – like haunted hallways, holiday parties, arts and crafts nights, silly costumes, and other magical moments.

While recalling some of their earliest interactions with JE Dunn, Jentri and Belinda describe team members that are always looking for a need to fill, whether that be helping move tables, purchasing much needed supplies, dressing up to make kids smile, building decorations, or sticking around to clean up after a long event.

“They’re just a pure example of a servant’s heart,” Belinda said. “They’re very great at their careers, but there is something else that motivates them in life. It could be the littlest of things, but they jump in without thinking twice.”

For Ali and the rest of the JE Dunn Oklahoma team, volunteering is simply a piece of being a community builder who is trusted to enrich the lives of people where JE Dunn lives, works, and builds.

“If they know and trust us to do the right thing on or off the project site,” Ali adds, “that’s what matters.”

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Founded in 1992, Calm Waters is dedicated to helping children, adults, and families in their grief journey after a death, divorce or other significant loss. The organization provides free support, private pay counseling and consultations, parenting seminars and workplace crisis services and trainings to over 8,000 individuals annually.

“We are honored and humbled by JE Dunn’s generous support of Calm Waters and the individuals, children, and families we serve,” said Chief Executive Officer Linda Maisch.  “This grant will allow us to begin building a state-wide safety net to ensure anyone suffering a significant loss has multiple places to turn for support.”

The Oklahoma City-based nonprofit will use the donation to expand staff capacity with specialized trauma training for therapists, provide community-wide grief education workshops, equip the center to handle increased demand, and strengthen the volunteer and donor network for sustained program delivery.

“We know the need is significant in our state,” Maisch added, “but, with the support of JE Dunn and our community, we will ensure that no one has to grieve alone.”

The grant is part of JE Dunn’s Cornerstone Campaign, which expands the company’s existing annual giving by donating an additional $1 million+ each year. Charities across the United States were selected by employees and vetted by JE Dunn’s Community Impact team and national Cornerstone Committee.

JE Dunn employees chose “Access to safe and supportive spaces for kids in need” as the focus for the 2025 Cornerstone Campaign.

“We are thrilled to launch this new, employee-driven philanthropic strategy as part of our Community Impact. Our employees resoundingly chose to support organizations that create safe and supportive environments for kids in need,” said Nancy Phelps, JE Dunn Community Impact Director. “What an incredible honor to partner with our local communities in shaping a brighter future for the next generation.”

JE Dunn and its employees work to support the creation of safe spaces like community centers and youth clubs where children can socialize, develop, and engage in extracurricular activities. These efforts aim to reduce bullying and youth violence while fostering mental well-being and personal growth.

About Calm Waters

Calm Waters Center for Children and Families provides support services for children and families on their grief journey caused by death, divorce, or other significant loss. Since beginning in 1992, Calm Waters has impacted more than 76,500 Oklahomans. For more information about Calm Waters and their services, visit www.calmwaters.org or call 405-841-4800

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Over the past 18 years, Forrest has established himself as a trusted and proven builder across many of JE Dunn’s markets. From Nashville, Tennessee, to Austin, Texas, he has led complex developer, healthcare, and commercial projects to successful completion – including Austin’s tallest tower, Sixth and Guadalupe.  Along with his expertise in delivering construction projects, Forrest has become adept at supporting clients through the lifecycle of a project. He advocates for the project’s goals and vision while also supporting the needs of the operation and construction teams.

“Forrest brings a robust portfolio of project experience and an expert level of knowledge from working on some of JE Dunn’s most challenging projects, but most importantly, he prioritizes supporting his team,” said Greg Lorei, President of the South Central Region. “We know he will do great things in Oklahoma.”

Jason Bishop, former leader of the Oklahoma offices, will now support JE Dunn’s mission critical pursuits and future work program within the South Central region in partnership with the company’s Advanced Facilities Group.

JE Dunn’s Oklahoma offices – located in Oklahoma City and Tulsa – opened in 2008 and 2021, respectively, with a commitment to building authentic partnerships that would add to the skyline while helping the state grow and flourish. Since then, the offices have completed a diverse portfolio of healthcare, public and higher education, and aviation projects including the BOK Park Plaza Office Tower, various projects on the University of Oklahoma campus, the Oklahoma State Capitol exterior renovation, numerous renovations to the Oklahoma Children’s Hospital, and the Love Family Women’s Center on Mercy’s Oklahoma City Campus.

The offices’ backlogs are equally impressive, featuring high profile clients and projects like the AAR Aircraft Services Inc. Hangar Addition, the Oklahoma City Zoo Penguin and Sea Lion Exhibit renovation, and an array of healthcare scopes. The Oklahoma City team also recently moved into a new office space located at 1204 N Hudson Ave. Ste. 200, OKC OK 73103.

“I am so excited to get plugged in to everything JE Dunn is building in Oklahoma, from our project sites to our community involvement,” said Forrest Wilson. “We’ve had an incredibly strong, skilled team in Oklahoma for nearly two decades, and I am honored to be trusted as their leader while we continue to drive market growth.”

Forrest holds an MBA from Auburn University, which he earned while serving as senior project manager on the Sixth and Guadalupe project. He prides himself on being a client-centered builder who can utilize business acumen and unmatched communication to work with a diverse set of clients. He feels a resolute responsibility to the communities where we build– serving four years on the executive leadership team for the American Heart Association’s Heart Ball in Austin – and is looking forward to integrating his family into the Oklahoma community.

The post JE Dunn Construction Appoints Forrest Wilson as Oklahoma Office Leader first appeared on JE Dunn Construction.

Market Drivers

It’s a unique situation we are seeing in this part of the United States, and the nuances that created this amount of aviation construction include population growth, connectivity, and airport relationships with its city and local economy.

Population Growth

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) is a prime example of airport capacity in relation to population growth. In May of 2023, Austin reached the top 10 most populous cities by the U.S. Census Bureau, which included Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. In 2022, AUS’ enplanements, or passengers that boarded at the airport, was 10.5 million. This is an increase of 55% compared to 2021.

Just recently at the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA)-SW Regional Conference AUS leaders stated that the airport’s 2040 master plan will realistically hit in 2030. Right now, the airport is operating outside of its capacity.

Connectivity

Where AUS is growing its capacity and role in aviation on a local and national level, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has been operating on a national and international level for decades. For the second year in a row, DFW was ranked the second busiest airport in the world, with 73+ million passengers in 2022.

Its need for construction isn’t tied to the growth of its surrounding cities – at least not how it was in its early years. Rather, the demand comes from being a major hub for airlines and connectivity to other airports. About 60% of its traffic connects to another flight. Modernization, efficiency, and traveler experience are all goals for its expansion and continued reputation in the aviation market.

Capacity

The explosion of aviation work in Texas and parts of Oklahoma does include a middle ground, where airports are naturally growing with their general areas and in response to future capacity needs. This includes San Antonio International Airport and Tulsa International Airport. These individual programs are in the billions of dollars and include large, complex work that will be managed and constructed over several years.

In comparison to AUS enplanements, Tulsa and San Antonio, have a more moderate trend – although still indicating increase in travel and passenger numbers for the future.

Cargo Services

Beyond travel, airports are building capacity for additional cargo services. This focus happened during the pandemic when demand for fast delivery of essential and non-essential goods exploded.

That level of demand has come down with recent global impacts, fuel prices, supply chain bottlenecks, and the ease of port congestion. But there still exists a need for goods to be delivered securely, fast, and in large quantities.

Boeing released its report on air cargo through 2040 and projects that North America will average a 4.3% increase over the next decade. This will be led by e-commerce and a rise in domestic manufacturing.

This is the type of work AUS is invested in, where air cargo totaled more than 310+ million pounds in 2022, up almost 30 percent from 2021. In the last year, JE Dunn completed excavation and foundational work for AUS’ new 99,000 square foot cargo warehouse. This was a fast-track design and construction effort to get the facility up and running as soon as possible.

This aviation boom will lead to incredible opportunities for firms in the AEC industry but will bring impacts to the following:

• Trade partner and overall skilled worker capacity
• Opportunities for Minority, Women, Small, and Disadvantaged firms that meet their current capabilities while helping them build work capacity and experience
• Competition for workforce, labor, and retention with other large projects and multi-year projects in the the data center, manufacturing, government and municipal markets

This is top of mind for JE Dunn as we look to purse work in the aviation sector. Aviation will continues to be a leading market for our South Central region and it’s our responsibility to deliver projects that are successful, provide an excellent experience, and support the growth of our industry for the future.

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• Case Study 3

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