Culture Builder

There’s a colorful diagram hanging on the wall of Matt Sauer’s office that spells out expectations of everyone working on the 14-story SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.

Titled “Rules of the Sandbox,” it specifies eight core maxims—from decision-making and accountability to building trust and managing conflict—that govern how people work together on one of the St. Louis region’s largest healthcare construction projects. 

That cohesive team culture is a source of pride for Sauer, who originally partnered with McCarthy Human Resources Director Caitlin Starke to develop the jobsite culture map. They worked with the local marketing team to craft the sandbox metaphor, referencing the environment where kids first learn to share space and settle differences.

Much more than a mantra, the Rules of the Sandbox serve as ongoing touchpoints to build trust among team members and pursue continuous improvement on the job. “It’s part of our onboarding process,” Sauer says. “We're routinely circling back to solicit ideas and ask for honest feedback from the entire team, then working to translate it into actionable items.”

Sauer calls the Cardinal Glennon jobsite the strongest culture of his 20-year McCarthy career. 

Branching Out

Sauer grew up in Perryville, Missouri, about 80 miles south of St. Louis, where his dad ran a tree farm and nursery that raised as many as 7,000 pine trees at its peak. Construction entered the picture at age 16, when Sauer started working summers and weekends for a friend’s dad who owned a small general contracting business.

Despite that early exposure, Sauer cycled through the forestry, marketing and general business curricula at Missouri State University before discovering the university’s construction management program.

The summer before Sauer graduated, his uncle’s friendship with former McCarthy President and Chief Operating Officer Mike Hurst helped him land an internship at the St. Louis office, paving the way to a full-time job after graduation. He spent the first four-and-a-half years of his McCarthy tenure completing continuous work assignments for the Bassett Healthcare Network in Cooperstown, New York.

Those experiences set the stage for an ongoing series of healthcare jobs at Mercy Orthopedic Hospital and Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital in Springfield, Missouri, as well as Saint Luke’s East Hospital in Lee’s Summit. He also contributed to the construction of the Mercy Hospital Joplin replacement hospital in the wake of the 2011 tornado that destroyed the previous facility. “We built several projects off napkin sketches and literally bought whatever was needed on credit cards to finish the project,” he recalls. “It was pretty fun, really.”

In 2015, Sauer relocated to Mattoon, Illinois, to work on continuous work projects at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. 

Five years later, he expanded his expertise beyond healthcare and took on his largest project to date: the Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building at Washington University School of Medicine. “It challenged me, but also benefited my career and my growth as a project leader,” he says.

In late 2023, Sauer returned to the healthcare realm by stepping into the role of project director on the new Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. He’s also overseeing several projects queued up at Sarah Bush Lincoln health system, including a new patient tower, emergency department expansion, cancer center expansion and several other projects.

Why He Stays

For Sauer, the technical precision and seamless coordination required to build state-of-the-art healthcare facilities are ultimately driven by the human lives the space will touch.

“Healthcare is always challenging, but the end result gives you a real sense of purpose,” he says. “When you tour an existing facility and see the young patients and their families, knowing what this new building will mean for the community... that has a massive impact.” 

Sauer’s deep connection to the mission—and the strong relationships built along the way—explains why he has spent his entire career with McCarthy.