Topping out ceremony marks milestone in Wilmington campus transformation

Posted April 16, 2012

Hospital staff and construction crew put their signatures on the last structural steel beam before it was lifted into place, marking an important milestone in the transformation of Christiana Care Health System's Wilmington Hospital campus.

Several news organizations were atop the Wilmington Hospital parking garage Thursday, April 12, to cover the topping out ceremony commemorating Christiana Care’s $210 million expansion. Hundreds of Christiana Care and SKANSKA employees signed the last steel structural beam before it was lifted by a crane from the parking garage to the peak of the nine-story patient tower.

The project has required about 2,000 construction workers and will create approximately 600 new hospital jobs of varying nature when completed. Wilmington Hospital has remained fully operational during the construction project, which is slated to be finished in 2014.

During the topping out ceremony, U.S. Air Force Maj. Jeff Matthew—also a Senior Project Engineer with SKANSKA—presented a flag to Robert J. Laskowski, M.D., MBA, Christiana Care’s president and CEO. On a recent tour of duty, Matthew had the flag flown on his KC-10A tanker aircraft over Afghanistan in honor of the Wilmington Hospital expansion project team. The flag was carried by the crew, who also signed a certificate of authenticity.