FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – Ruby+Associates, the constructability-focused structural engineering firm, has completed its design-build assignment for Mercy Health Systems' Willard Hospital project in Willard, OH. Ruby acted as the engineer of record on the 105,000 sq ft hospital which was Ruby's third in a series of construction projects for Mercy. Previous Mercy projects included St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center Heart Pavilion in Toledo and Mercy Hospital of Tiffin, OH.

"Mercy Health Systems is an educated building owner that empowers its construction team to make the right construction decisions," said John Matuska, PE, SECB, Senior Project Manager, Associate. "Backed by the trust and confidence of the client, our Mercy projects are characterized by great cross-functional team work leading to efficient design and implementation."

As engineer of record, Ruby oversaw all structural engineering components for the foundation, the structure and miscellaneous steel usage throughout the building. Typical of medical facilities, the building has a complex duct-work network requirement that impacted the overall structural design. To expedite the schedule, Ruby created a computer model to electronically transmit the building design to the fabricator and detailer to accommodate the mill order and steel detailing.

"Economics were a key ingredient in building our latest world class facility," said Tim DeMonte, Mercy's designated representative on the project. "Ruby, and its partners at Lathrop Group, has proven its value to our team by consistently creating efficient structural design and managing advanced planning that fosters collaboration, encourages intelligent decision-making and builds shared vision for the construction plan across disciplines and trades. This approach helped to identify and resolve potential issues while we were still in the planning phase, and therefore saved both time and money on site."

Ruby+Associates has broad experience in health care including Owensboro (Ky) Medical Health Systems' "new hospital"; the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago, IL; C.S. Mott Children's Hospital at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI; and Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis.