Michael Underwood, Project executive, Skanska (Orlando, Florida)
For more than 15 years, Michael Underwood has been making significant contributions to healthcare construction at Skanska, having worked on nearly $2 billion in projects across the Southeast throughout his career with the company.
While delivering leading-edge projects, Underwood has pushed for new strategies and approaches to tackle evolving construction challenges and advance industry best practices. Recently, he’s been at the helm of the construction of the 575,000-square-foot Orlando Health Lakeland Highlands Hospital in Orlando, Fla., where he’s focusing on utilizing prefabrication methods and alternative building methods to mitigate labor and supply chain issues. Florida is one of the fastest growing states in the country and the Lakeland community ranks in the top three largest growing metro areas.
To overcome market challenges, he worked with the design team and Orlando Health to evaluate prefabrication opportunities that could benefit not only this project but also Orlando Health’s new facilities across the region.
Through his efforts, a 11,350-square-foot modular central utility building was fabricated and shipped to the Lakeland Highlands Hospital. Additionally, 250 prefabricated bathroom pods are being manufactured off-site to overcome a tight plumbing labor market. Going forward, Orlando Health plans to implement Underwood’s prefabrication best practices to drive standardization and better speed to market on its future hospitals across the state.
He also oversaw construction of the Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute in Orlando, Fla.—the state’s first orthopedic hospital, completed in late 2023. Here, he addressed workforce challenges by fostering opportunities for small and diverse businesses to expand their capabilities across Central Florida.
The project team received the National Association of Minority Contractors’ 2022 Diversity Champion Award and forged new partnerships with local businesses as part of Skanska’s Excellence in Construction Leadership Program, which is designed to facilitate ongoing access, knowledge-sharing, and mutually beneficial partnerships between Skanska and business executives.
Off the construction site, Underwood is dedicated to supporting the communities his construction projects serve, volunteering with organizations such as the Orlando Health Foundation and the Howard Phillips Center for Children & Families. Further exemplifying his commitment, during a severe weather incident, he stayed overnight at the Lee Health Golisano Children’s Hospital in Fort Myers, Fla., a previous Skanska project, to ensure operational continuity.
His drive to deliver new approaches and overcome industry challenges is helping raise standards across the healthcare sector.
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