Healthcare Construction Manager & Design-Build Contractor

Carl A. Nelson & Company is a trusted name in healthcare construction.


With extensive experience in the industry, we specialize in delivering high-quality healthcare facilities, from hospitals to medical offices and more. Our team prioritizes safety, efficiency, and superior craftsmanship to ensure successful outcomes that meet the unique needs of healthcare providers.

At Carl A. Nelson & Company (CANCO), we understand the complexity of 21st-century healthcare construction. Integration of high-tech medical equipment, security and communication technology, medical gases, and fire protection all contribute to the complexity of the construction.

But healthcare construction is more than just knowing how to build. Your design-build or construction management team also needs to understand the business and practice of healthcare. Oftentimes the construction occurs at an existing facility, which requires special attention to staff needs, patient comfort, and infection control procedures.


CANCO has a wide range of experience in the healthcare marketplace in the design-build, construction management agency or at-risk, or general contractor role. And not only can we help you accomplish your vision of a better facility, our needs assessment and master planning services can help you to shape that vision.

We have built different types of facilities including regional and rural hospitals, critical-access hospitals, medical office buildings and stand-alone medical and dental clinics, as well as senior living and long-term care facilities. Furthermore, our experience includes new facilities, remodeled spaces, and additions. Except on CM Agency projects, we are able to self-perform much of the work with our own highly trained and skilled construction craftsmen.



If you are ready to get started with construction, or need assistance with developing a plan, contact Dan Culp, vice president of operations in our Burlington office. Dan oversees our projects for healthcare clients.

Call him now at 319-754-8415 or fill out the contact form.



Client relationships is at the heart of how we do business

In the Fall 2020 edition of our wibi newsletter, we spoke to several repeat healthcare clients about the benefits of a long-term builder/customer relationship. Learn more about how we value our relationships with our clients by reading the cover story: Developing Long-Term Industrial Clients: Build, Serve, Repeat.




Hospital, Health System and Community Health Center Master Planning

In addition to providing construction services, Carl A. Nelson & Company also is able to bring its experience leading successful facilities master planning processes to your healthcare organization.

CANCO has particular experience working with Critical-Access Hospitals to address future facilities needs, and has worked with several clients from master planning through construction of renovation and additions as well as complete replacement hospitals.

Examples include:

  • Decatur County Hospital — Leon, Iowa
  • Jefferson County Health Center — Fairfield, Iowa
  • Davis County Hospital & Clinics — Bloomfield, Iowa
  • Regional Medical Center — Manchester, Iowa
  • Van Buren County Hospital — Keosauqua, Iowa
  • Washington County Hospital and Clinics — Washington, Iowa
  • Community Health Centers of Southeastern Iowa, Inc. — West Burlington, Iowa

Construction of the new Jefferson County Health Center in Fairfield, Iowa, was a construction management agency project of Carl A. Nelson & Company.




Related Services and Additional Information

If your planned hospital or other healthcare project includes complex laboratory spaces, Carl A. Nelson & Company has you covered. Our experience in laboratory construction, which includes highly technical mechanical, electrical, plumbing and technology (MEPT) systems, is well suited to the medical diagnostic laboratory environment.

Nelson Design, Inc.

Our in-house design team is able to use 3D modeling technology to ensure systems and structure work together in harmony before construction begins, saving valuable money and time during the build. On design-build and design-assist projects, our team also will apply its experience to review architectural and MEPT design and applicable code requirements to ensure the best-possible quality, cost and schedule on your project.