Nowhere is customer service as important as on a healthcare construction project, and in today’s market this is even more important. We need to ensure that our staff understands that the needs of the hospital, their staff, the patients trying to recover, and worried friends and family, are our top priority. Over my next few posts I will discuss some of my team’s actions that ensure we are providing the best possible customer service.

A construction renovation project is never easy, but with careful planning and focusing on details, patient care and safety can be maintained. To minimize the impact of the ongoing construction activities in the active emergency room at Coral Springs Medical Center, Bolivar Partillo, a general laborer, maintains the entrance to the emergency room and the floors and corridors within the facility. Bolivar understands that patient care and safety come first and regularly escorts the patients entering the emergency room to ensure their processing goes smoothly. On one particular morning, his actions were observed by an assistant nurse manager for Emergency Services, who wrote, “I just witnessed something extraordinary. I saw a Skanska employee bringing one of our elderly patients in by wheelchair. I watched for a second as he brought her up to the registration desk, put the locks on her wheelchair and then asked if she was okay. What a great testament to teamwork, kindness, and humanity. When I thanked him for his help, he humbly replied ‘It's my job to make sure everybody is safe.’ This gentleman's name is Bolivar Portillo. His random act of kindness made my day!”