Officials from Capital Region Medical Center gathered on top of a parking garage to meet and greet Gaspare Calvaruso, their new hospital president, and to see the progress on the hospital's expansion project.
As the group mingled over warm coffee, fruits and pastries, sharp metallic clangs echoed off tools on steel foundation beams at the construction site a few yards away. The ceremony was hosted on top of the garage so attendees could see the progress of the work against the Jefferson City skyline.
Administrators, security guards and a few nurses just off the late shift watched the downtown area while the morning sun rose between the changing autumn trees and the cold blue clouds covering the sky.
After the previous president, Ed Farnsworth, retired, the hospital's Board of Directors appointed Calvaruso to the position. He has held several executive positions for SSM Health Care in St. Louis and has been responsible for three facilities - St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles and Wentzville and also St. Joseph Medical Park in St. Peters.
He has also served as president and service line executive for SSM Cancer Care. Calvaruso directed the strategic and day-to-day operations of the three facilities, which have about 1,700 employees and 600 physicians.
Prior to his role at SSM, he served as vice president of medical staff services at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Illinois, where he led physician recruitment and marketing.
Calvaruso is a graduate of the University of Missouri in St. Louis and holds a master's degree in business administration from William Woods University in Fulton. He originally wanted to be a history teacher and football coach, but not finding any open work led him to a position in health care, he said.
"I have some familiarity with Jefferson City," he said. "I actually worked here (from) 1995 through 1997."
Calvaruso is married with three sons. His children attend St. Joseph Cathedral School and play soccer and football. Keeping up with his kids are his main hobbies, but he also enjoys golf, music and travel.
As for the construction, the medical center's expansion is slated for completion during the summer of 2015, hospital spokeswoman Lindsay Huhman wrote in an email. The expansion will improve access for outpatient services and house specialty physicians, she said.
The project is estimated to cost $37 million. Construction started with a groundbreaking ceremony on Feb. 27, and several dilapidated and condemned structures were purchased, demolished and absorbed by the project, Huhman wrote.