How Legacy’s Project Management Team Builds Clinics Around a Community

(L to R) Vice President of Asset and Project Management Jerry Callaway, Construction Project Manager Amanda Keadle, and Director of Project Management Isaura Garcia

Ask Jerry Callaway what he loves most about finishing a clinic, and he won’t mention the ribbon cutting or the opening day activities. One of his favorite things to do is sit in the lobby of a building he helped create and watch people use it.

That moment is the payoff for years of work and collaboration. Jerry, Vice President of Asset and Project Management, leads Legacy’s Project Management team, a group he proudly describes as small but mighty.

Along with Director of Project Management Isaura Garcia and Construction Project Manager Amanda Keadle, the three bring more than 22 years of combined experience at Legacy. Together, they turn big ideas and big donations into real buildings where families can get care.

Keeping Legacy’s biggest projects moving

Jerry’s path to this work was not a straight line. He joined Legacy 17 years ago as its first experienced IT hire, back when the organization had only three locations, and he built the network and phone systems from the ground up.

Getting each new site connected to that network was one of the first steps whenever Legacy acquired or built a clinic, so onboarding them naturally became his responsibility. From there, he grew into coordinating the design and construction of every clinic Legacy opens.

What happens before the doors ever open

Building a clinic is less about bricks and more about people, and it starts long before construction.

First, the team pinpoints an area where patients are underserved. Then they sit down with operational, clinical, and executive colleagues to map out which services the neighborhood needs most. Only after that does the physical work begin. Land is acquired, architects and designers shape the space around those services, and a general contractor is selected to build it.

The two newest projects show how this plays out. Legacy Pasadena Southmore, a clinic of roughly 39,200 square feet, recently opened its doors in February. Legacy Acres Homes has finished construction and welcomed patients on July 14. Both were made possible by a gift of more than $51 million from Houston Methodist, one of the largest donations in Legacy’s history. You can read more about the Pasadena Southmore and Acres Homes milestones in our newsroom.

Acres Homes is one of Houston’s oldest communities, and an area where residents often have to travel far for care. Bringing a clinic there, with pediatrics, adult medicine, and behavioral health under one roof, is exactly the kind of access Legacy exists to provide.

Making the most of every dollar

For the team, a large donation is both a gift and a responsibility, and they think carefully about stewardship on every project.

“Every dollar we have equals some kind of patient care,” Jerry said. Money spent on construction is money not spent in the exam room, so they work to use every dollar wisely and stay on budget. Coming in under that line protects the care patients receive.

The mechanics of a three-person team

How does a team of three keep so many projects on track? By leaning on the people around them. For any given build, Jerry and his colleagues pull in the right help at the right moment, whether that comes from pharmacy, dental, vision, operations, communications, compliance, or safety. The team stays small, but the circle of experts it draws on is wide.

Each person in Project Management brings something the others cannot. Jerry says Amanda lives in the nitty-gritty of construction, Isaura leads the larger operational side, and he keeps the work tied to Legacy’s long-term strategy. “Not one of us can do it by ourselves,” he said.

What this means for the communities Legacy serves

Every clinic this team builds is part of Legacy’s promise of Health Beyond Care, a healthcare home where coordinated, whole-person care lives close to home. As Legacy keeps expanding its reach toward Vision 2030, the Project Management team will keep doing the behind-the-scenes, careful work that makes that growth possible.

And somewhere down the line, you just might find Jerry in the lobby, watching it all come to life.