Building Foundations of Support: St. Joseph’s Hospitals, A Special Place Inside and Out

It’s been more than a decade since Max Miller first interned with a local general contractor and worked on the new patient tower at St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital. Since then, the pride he exudes when speaking about the project is palpable.

“I was fortunate to join the firm full time the year after my internship, and even more fortunate to start my career working for a client like St. Joe’s,” recalled Max.

Over the years Max worked on a number of projects for St. Joseph’s Hospitals and was always impressed with the administration, the team members, and what patients had to say about their care.

According to Max, “When you work on a hospital project there are so many different kinds of end users – and keeping all of their needs in mind requires a lot of interactions with each of the various constituencies.”

What he found consistently at St. Joe’s was the same level of enthusiasm and commitment he felt for his own work, something that reinforced what he’d heard about the hospital through family members who worked there, as well as his own experience when he wound up in the emergency room one night.

So, when his company became involved in supporting St. Joe’s, Max was eager to do his share, even attending special events like our annual Heroes Ball.

“It felt really good to not only be a part of the hospital’s physical expansion, but to know Iwas helping them provide excellent patient care through other initiatives.”

For a while his career path took him away from the Tampa area and upon his recent return, he explained how seeing the buildings he worked on all those years ago made him feel.

“Driving into Tampa each day I am filled with such a sense of pride, not only because of my involvement in some of these beautiful buildings, but because I know I was a part of helping make possible the fantastic things going on inside them.”

That sense of pride led to Max’s recent donation to St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital.

“I got something in the mail about one of their events and I wasn’t able to attend, but I still wanted to support St. Joe’s.”

While Max’s experience told him that any gift would be put to great use, he especially liked being able to focus his donation toward a particular area, in his case the Women’s Hospital.

“I know so many people who were born at St. Joseph’s Women’s Hospital and who noware having their kids there, and I think sometimes it’s easy to take it for granted becausethe care seems effortless. But my experience being on site in a construction capacity forso many years gave me a unique perspective into the kind of care being given and how patients feel when they are there, and I know how much effort actually goes into every little detail. There is no doubt in my mind that St. Joe’s is completely deserving of my support. And if I can play a small role in helping others see that too, then I am more than happy to share my story.”