TORONTO, Canada – Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm, announced that Katie Wood, principal, has transferred to the firm’s Toronto office where she will have an integral role in the Americas healthcare team and lead the development of the healthcare business in Canada.
Wood relocated from Sydney, Australia where she was the health lead for Arup across Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. While there, she was responsible for bringing together Arup’s technical, people and process consulting skills, while utilizing Arup’s global network to apply international best practices for the benefit of its clients.
Wood’s healthcare experience covers both the U.K. and Australia and includes:
- Planning, design and implementation of large, complex health facility developments
- Public Private Partnerships procurement
- Management of major programs at both strategic and local levels
- Organizational change covering people, processes and ITC systems
In Australia, Wood led Arup’s role as project management advisor to South Australia Health for the new $1.85-billion, 800-bed Royal Adelaide Hospital using a P3 procurement model. In the U.K., Wood was involved in a number of P3 hospitals, in addition to two national government P3 programs delivering independent sector-run treatment centers and healthcare ITC systems, respectively.
Richard Terry, buildings engineering practice leader, commented, “We are delighted to have Katie join our team, adding her significant leadership and healthcare sector expertise to our existing staff who have substantial local experience in the design of healthcare projects and other complex building types.”
Commenting on her appointment and the outlook for Arup’s healthcare business, Wood said, “Canada’s health environment is changing rapidly driven by rising costs, funding models, a growing and aging population, workforce shortages, changing clinical practices, continual developments in technology and increased patient expectations. We relish this complex environment, and are motivated by the goal of improving people’s lives. We enjoy working alongside health clients, combining our creative, technical and business expertise to provide a full service, from strategy through to implementation.”
The move further strengthens Arup’s building engineering practice in Toronto on the heels of recent additions Richard Terry as buildings engineering practice leader, Alan Duggan as mechanical leader, Catherine Bélanger as mechanical project manager and Zoran Markovic as electrical leader. This growing team has significant collective experience in the design of healthcare projects, as well as other complex building types.
Andrew McAlpine, Toronto office leader, commented, “This appointment is part of Arup’s continuing commitment to building a strong and competitive Canadian business across many sectors. Arup has steadily grown the capacity to deliver a wide variety of significant and complex projects from its Toronto and newly established Montreal offices. Healthcare is a particularly important market where Arup’s experience and integrated design approach will bring high value to Canadian clients.”
