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Entrepreneur Scholars program leads Fatima Ruiz Villatoro to career in hospital construction

Alumni

Engineering

Portland Magazine

International Languages and Cultures

Franz Center

June 20, 2019

This article is part of a series of profiles of Entrepreneur Scholar alumni. University of Portland's Entrepreneur Scholars program is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2019. 

Fatima Ruiz Villatoro

Class of 2015
Majors: Engineering Management, Spanish

The Project

Fatima Ruiz VillatoroI partnered up on a classmate’s idea to create a nonprofit that decorated rooms for children who were terminally ill.

The Why

I was hospitalized when I was in high school, my junior year. Up until that point I thought I wanted to be a doctor. Surprisingly, I later learned I enjoyed the construction side of hospitals.

From There

For the past three years I’ve been working in construction of medical facilities. I’m currently an assistant project manager working on my first ground-up project: a 15,000 square-foot expansion to an emergency department in Tacoma. I feel I’m making a difference for the people that receive care at these facilities. Even if it’s just a new coat of paint, it always seems to make a difference.

Challenges

Most of the projects that I work on are in active clinics or hospitals. This means that our construction activities are scheduled around the activities of the hospital. Any time we do a connection of utilities, whether it be water or power, we need to have a shutdown to connect everything safely. Imagine a patient coming into the hospital to seek care, but they have no access to water or toilets— these are the types of problems that we try to solve and work around. The constructability piece is different too. With a corporate headquarters, you’re likely focused on how it looks. We look at function. Is it going to work? Will the patients enjoy the experience, and will they feel that they are receiving the best care possible?

Weakness

The inability to say “no” when items are added to my to-do list.

Superpower

Getting the job done.

PHOTO: Sy Bean