UM student grateful to be part of Jackson Memorial Hospital's major upgrade

MIAMI - The emergency department at Jackson Memorial Hospital is getting a major upgrade and one of the people on the job is a University of Miami student with a passion for construction.

Cade Owen is living out his dream of being an architect, in the heart of Miami's Health District. A dream birthed because of his grandparents.

So, now he's studying it at the University of Miami and this summer, he's standing on the grounds of a multimillion-dollar project.

Jackson Memorial Hospital is expanding its emergency department with an initial investment of $90 million. Miami-Dade County's busiest emergency department will now include 207 new rooms with a state-of-the-art facility.

The first phase of this project is slated to be completed by 2025.

CBS News Miami learned the goal is to expand the health system to triage patients faster, reduce wait times, and better serve the growing population in South Florida.

"Skanska is really big on building things that matter. So, this is definitely one of those key components that we are able to build and give back to the community at the end of the day," said Project Manager Carlos Sanango.

After phase one, phase two would include upgrading the current emergency department. That's set to be complete in 2027.

For Owen, once he wraps up school and the project is complete, he says it'll be cool to look back on.

"I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out," he said.