Lutheran Medical Center – a BluSky Commercial Roofing Success Story

Lutheran Medical Center’s community relies on them, and they needed to keep their doors open even after sustaining extreme hail damage to their roof. Their fear was the job was so massive that any one company couldn’t handle it. In this video, Dwayne Gaeddert from Lutheran Medical Center and Derek Ewigleben from BluSky recount the story of how BluSky’s Commercial Roofing division stepped in and laid those fears to rest.

Dwayne Gaeddert, Facility Manager at SCL Health Lutheran Medical Center: Lutheran Medical Center has been around for a hundred years. This community relies on us and we want to keep the doors open. Because of the enormity of the project, we brought in a general contractor to oversee it and we took it out to bid from there. So that’s how I became associated with BluSky.

Derek Ewigleben, BluSky National Project Director: We got a call from the insurance adjuster that was working the file for Lutheran Hospital and he was looking for a real world price on a low slope roofing project. What sets BluSky apart on the national level is we approach insurance projects with a real world approach. We go out, we evaluate the project, we look at what it’s gonna take us to get the project completed, and where we’re able to add value to both the insurance company and to the owner.

Dwayne: I’ve worked with a lot of contractors in the past. My fear on this job was the job was just so massive that any one company couldn’t take it on. Lutheran Hospital is a working hospital, open 24-7, so that just gives us a challenge to be able to replace these roofs while we’re functioning in the buildings themselves.

Derek: We had to find a crane that was large enough to reach over the top of the hospital so that we didn’t have to put a crane in the front parking lot and disrupt the hospital operations. We installed a safety rail system, we installed overhead protections to ensure that no debris was falling on anybody and ensuring that all patients were kept safe as they were entering and exiting the hospital. We also hired a CSP, or Certified Safety Professional, to oversee the project and to ensure that everyone was following OSHA regulations and following the procedures set in place by Lutheran Medical Center.

Dwayne: Safety is number one around here. First for the patients, our associates and for the visitors. But then we also hold the individual contractors responsible for following OSHA guidelines and that put in another significant challenge to this project, putting guard rails all around the roofs.

Derek: A normal low slope roof is a football field-size and you can just kinda “blow and go” as we say, but with this project there’s multiple different roof facets. You know it’s only 2,200 squares, but at the end of the day, it’s eighty different roof decks. Weather has presented a challenge for us on the Lutheran Medical project. You know, we completed at the worst time of year, in winter. Not the best time to be replacing a roof but it was critical that it be replaced due to the hail damage.

Dwayne: BluSky made every effort to meet the schedules. We did have weather delays, we had wind delays, we had days that the crane wouldn’t operate. It went as smooth as possible. In any kind of construction project there are always unforeseen issues that pop up, and occasionally we did have a leak in the middle of a roof being open. I would contact BluSky directly and they took care of it.

Derek: Christmas Day we got a phone call from the hospital. Apparently, a drain had gotten plugged on one of the roofs that we had worked on, and our superintendent took time for away from his family and came straight away over here and addressed the issue. And you know, the hospital couldn’t have been more happy with that result. I think that just speaks to the kind of folks that we have employed here at BluSky.

Dwayne: During this project that we’ve had BluSky on our campus, I’ve had mainly one contact person, and that was Spence Spencer. He was a delight to work with! He was always very responsive to my requests, and kept me informed on the status of any issues. I didn’t have any experience with BluSky before this but they have stepped up to the plate, they’ve met the schedules except for the “unforeseens,” and it’s been a good working relationship.

Derek: At BluSky, we have a new mantra, “Raising the Bar,” and this project is a great example of that. You know, this project completed with no safety incidents. We had full-time supervision on this project, two project managers, two superintendents, and the project was delivered on budget and on schedule. And, you know, I couldn’t be prouder of the project team that completed this project.

Dwayne: This has been a long project, but it’s been a successful project. And we’re ready for another hundred years!

BluSky’s Commercial Roofing Division works with clients across the country who are tired of unsettled and escalating roofing claim and not receiving “real world” pricing. BluSky approaches large loss differently…so should you!