A Conversation With ... Jared Hites

You are currently the senior project manager for the $115 million, 200,000-square-foot Mercy Orthopedic Hospital and the $28 million, 63,000-square-foot Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital. How is the progress going on the two structures?
We are currently trending about four or five weeks ahead of schedule on the ortho project. Schedule, quality and costs are all going extremely well with that project. On the rehab project, we are on track with schedule and costs and that’s the same with all the work we have on the main Mercy campus. It’s a compliment to the entire team working. This has been a pretty wet spring, but the previous two springs and winter have been very favorable for construction, helping the overall projects.

You live in St. Louis, but travel to Springfield for work each week. Is travel common among McCarthy jobs?
It’s common for entry-level positions all the way up to senior project manager positions. We typically will travel from project to project, depending on the opportunity and where it’s at. It’s common in the industry as well. You have to go where the opportunities are. Sometimes you might be in an area where the construction is slow and for your career you need to travel and be flexible. That is something you know you are going to have to do and contend with when you get into this industry. You might have to relocate or live in a temporary situation depending on the opportunities.

What does your job entail for McCarthy? Why must you be in Springfield?
I oversee all field operations for McCarthy for all the projects we are currently performing for Mercy in Springfield – the campus project and the ortho and rehab projects. It takes a lot of hands-on interaction with Mercy directly, the designers and the subcontractors, and also the users. On a daily basis, I’m face to face with each project. There is a lot of collaboration and coordination to ensure that we do our best to deliver the highest quality project.

Wouldn’t it be easier to hire local workers?
In Springfield, it’s just a few of us management personnel who travel. We have also hired some local individuals. We have Missouri State University graduates in the management positions as well. We try to bring in a few of the current employees who know the policies and procedures, then we also try to hire locally and have a mix of both for management. All the trade workers are hired locally; we don’t bring in any.
In Springfield, there is a vast supply of well-qualified and well-skilled trade workers, so it doesn’t make sense to relocate trade workers to this area.

What does McCarthy’s Springfield workforce look like?
Currently, we are working with about 350 trade workers. During the course of the last two-and-a-half years, we have worked with more than 2,000 different trade workers. They didn’t all work at once, but have come through the projects as needed and completed their parts.

We currently have about 30 McCarthy trade workers that were all hired from the local union halls. We got up to 75 late last year, but tapered off.
Only three of the managers travel back to St. Louis each week. About six or seven have relocated to Springfield and made it their permanent home.

What is your living situation like in Springfield? Does McCarthy pay for lodging and travel expenses?
I have an apartment because it’s more efficient since I am in Springfield so often. Some guys have extended-stay hotels if they know they are going to be in town less than six months. They know it’s more efficient to stay extended stay versus lease an apartment. McCarthy reimburses us for the expense, per diem on travel.

What other notable jobs is McCarthy currently working on?
We are working on the Joplin replacement hospital for Mercy. We also are working on the I-35 hospital for Mercy in Edmond, Okla. Just up the road in Waynesville, we are getting ready to build a clinic for Phelps County Regional, out of Rolla. We are one of the top health care builders in the nation and have worked with Mercy in St. Louis for more than 30 years continuously.