Company serves as Construction Manager for Sarasota Memorial Hospital project; books will help assist setting up a hospital in Rwanda.
Sarasota, Fla. – Skanska USA, led by Vice President Richard Redmon’s efforts, recently funded a delivery of medical textbooks halfway around the world that will be used to instruct doctors and medical staff in Rwanda.
As construction manager for the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Tower project, Skanska and Redmon met Dr. Washington Hill, one of the hospital’s physicians. Hill and his wife Pauline, a nursing instructor at the University of Tampa, are on a year-long mission to Kigali, Rwanda as part of Sarasota organization Hearts Afire. The mission is focused on providing their knowledge and skill to help assist setting up a hospital and instructing the medical staff on how to use the utmost quality when caring for women and babies of high-risk pregnancies.
“When we became aware of the mission, we offered to ship the textbooks from Dr. Hill’s Sarasota office to his Rwanda location,” Redmon said.
Olivia Perigo, Skanska Project Administrator, headed up Skanska’s delivery efforts. “The entire delivery process on our end was seven weeks, and the delivery to Rwanda took a team effort to complete,” said Perigo. “We had to package the textbooks, measure box dimensions, calculate weight, contact several international shipping companies for the most cost and time-efficient delivery method, work with our company accountant, and find an agent to approve customs paperwork in Kigali.”
Perigo received notification in late-March that the books had been delivered and picked up by Dr. and Mrs. Hill. Although the delivery cost Skanska approximately $2,700 to complete, Redmon said the value the books would bring Dr. Hill in Rwanda far outweighed any monetary cost. “Skanska always strives to give back to our communities where we live and work, and this was absolutely a great opportunity to assist a worthy cause.”
Skanska USA Building Inc. is a recognized leader in construction in the Florida healthcare industry. In addition to the recently completed Orlando Nemours Children’s Hospital, Skanska is presently overseeing the Sarasota Memorial Hospital Tower project and has previously completed additions to Coral Springs Medical Center in South Florida and Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.
The Sarasota Memorial Hospital Tower project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
For further information please contact:
Jessica Murray, 404-946-7468,
Toby Srebnik, 305-351-5006,