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When her father died when she was just 18, everything changed for Geri Pahed. She had made so many goals centered around the fact that she knew her father had wanted a son after having two daughters—though he never said it explicitly to her, the daughter he became so close with over the years.
But Pahed still wanted to make her father proud. Because her father was in the military, Pahed decided she would be a fighter pilot. She made it through school so quickly that she wasn’t old enough to apply to the military academy by the time she graduated. So she decided to kill time by studying architecture in her native Philippines while waiting to be of age.
“When I was 18, my dad walked into an emergency room and never walked out,” Pahed remembers, still able to put herself back in that time all these years later. “I was already halfway through design school, and I realized that my dream to be a pilot died with my father. I needed to forge my own path and make my own way.”
Pahed, director of construction management and project delivery at USC Health System (Keck Medicine of USC), has stacked her résumé with roles including designer, builder, general contractor (GC), project and construction manager, Statewide Health Planning inspector of record, senior vice president, CEO consultant, business owner, and capital construction director—plus mother, wife, sister, and daughter.
“I listen. I really listen. You have to capture the need if you want to build something meaningful.”
Geri Pahed
She jokes that she can build hospitals “in her sleep,” but that doesn’t reflect the research, care, and client understanding that makes her truly unique. Just skimming Pahed’s background is an exhaustive exercise in learning on the job, executing at a high level, and taking the time to understand what matters the most to her clients.
“Geri delivers construction management oversight of the highest caliber. Geri’s knowledge of building codes and practices, construction financials, negotiations, and coordination of medical construction work in occupied acute areas is comprehensive,” says Mike Brascia, president of Brascia Builders. “Her transparent leadership and professionalism ensure project success. She has our highest regards. It’s a pleasure working with her.”
After finishing design school, Pahed completely renovated the Ojai Country Club for a prominent Chicago family (her first job). She built dozens of dental and medical offices, all done on referral, including an office that her client described as a “Beverly Hills office in Chatsworth, California.” Pahed would be asked to throw the grand opening parties of these buildings because her clients implicitly trusted her style, communication, and understanding of what they wanted.
Pahed got her contractor’s license and worked as a GC by day and a designer by night. Then she realized how much of her children’s life she was missing in the process.
“When my oldest turned five, he was ready for school, and I realized I didn’t know him the way a mother should,” Pahed says. “I would do anything to do that over again, and I knew I needed to make a change.”
At Kaiser Permanente, Pahed’s major job was to remodel the executive floors, including the dual-CEO offices on the building’s seventh floor. Her relationship with one CEO was so strong that he invited her to gigs his jazz band was playing across the street and called her out to the audience when she arrived, her front-row seat reserved and waiting. The other executive would end up a CEO of CEOs and helped lure her to USC decades later. These are the kinds of relationships Pahed creates with her clients.
Pahed later became one of the first female inspectors of record for California’s Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD). She remembers taking a test with 300-something men. She surmised she was recruited for the job because she was a woman, but she didn’t care. She knew she was qualified and could do the job well.
“I had a few people close to me reiterate just how much I could do for women in a role like that,” Pahed remembers. “It would open the gates and encourage other women to enter the field.”
Subcontractors, builders, and designers tested her at every stage. Every single stereotype played out in real time.
Every inspection seemed to include “tests” of whether “this woman” knew her field. She routinely heard jokes like, “Who is she sleeping with? Who had to fill a quota?” One missed item on an inspection was a black mark on not just Pahed but also on women in an industry that was nearly 99.9 percent men at the time.
There are horror stories—enough to fill a book. But if it’s not abundantly clear, Pahed’s book of accomplishments, trailblazing, and particular brand of client management weighs much more. She has simply accomplished too much in her career to be held down by the struggles of being a woman in an industry that refused to acknowledge her expertise.
When Kaiser Permanente wanted to build its own school of medicine, Pahed took the call. She met with the CEO and dean of the medical school and immediately formed a close bond. The two overhauled the initial design plans of 84,000 square feet. Keep in mind, Pahed had never done a med school before. The executive team knew this and hired her anyway based on her track record.
Pahed says that project is her legacy project where all her greatest gifts got to shine.
“So many people want awards and want their builds to be in magazines,” Pahed says, laughing. “But I listen. I really listen. You have to capture the need if you want to build something meaningful. I think that’s why I got invited back for their first graduating class from the new school, recognized and sincerely thanked by the past and present CEOs.”
At that party, Pahed left in tears. The good kind. She reflected on all the days and nights where she and the dean would examine every couch and chair in every study space. They literally sat in all the spaces a student might study in to ensure that each individual spot might be a student’s coveted study location. Who takes that kind of care and finds the time for it?
“I realized that my dream to be a pilot died with my father. I needed to forge my own path and make my own way.”
Geri Pahed
Pahed is deserving of a moment to reflect, but she isn’t done. She admits she’ll probably never retire. At present, there’s a $300 million cardiovascular “hospital in a hospital” project at USC that she hopes can be a legacy for other team members. She wants to help guide them to feel the kind of satisfaction that she felt early in her career. Right now, she’s more concerned about building others.
Had her father not passed away when Pahed was 18, who knows what kind of life would have unfolded? It’s easy to believe that no matter her path, Pahed would have been the first and the best in so many regards. Because she listens. It’s as easy and as complex as that. It’s the foundation for so much of what has made her great in so many different roles. There’s no doubt that her father would be proud.
Since our establishment in 2009, we at Brascia Builders Inc. have built a 15-year legacy as a renowned general contractor in California, delivering top-notch projects on schedule and within budget. As master builders, we uphold the tradition of craftsmanship and quality, specializing in ground-up construction, renovations, conversions, and tenant improvements across diverse sectors such as healthcare, higher education, hospitality, food and beverage, commercial office, retail, and aerospace. Our unwavering commitment to integrity, honesty, and partnership equips our clients with valuable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing spaces, enhancing their operations, fostering success, and instilling a sense of peace of mind.
IDS Group has the great pleasure of working with Geri Pahed. Her leadership, insights, and technical skills result in synergy, great teamwork, successful projects, and satisfied stakeholders.
IDS Group is a fully integrated multidisciplinary firm providing architecture, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, structural, and civil engineering services, plus cost estimating and landscape design.
Our added value of an integrated team results in project efficiency and fully informed, creative solutions for our clients.
Congratulations to USC’s Geraldine Pahed on her remarkable achievements in the design and construction industry. Geraldine’s innovative approach is setting new standards in healthcare facility design, significantly enhancing the hospital environment for patients and staff alike. Her exemplary leadership and vision is evident on the new cardiovascular renovation at USC Keck Hospital, where she is pushing her team to deliver excellence. Geraldine’s outstanding work is a testament to her commitment to improving care for all.
Geri Pahed’s background in healthcare architecture and construction informs her ability to skillfully lead the Capital Construction Program at Keck Medicine of USC, constructing world-class projects while maintaining patient care and regulatory compliance. As a leading healthcare construction and project management firm in southern California, SLCC is honored to work alongside Geri to deliver life-saving projects in critical environments and Geri’s dedication to the patients and caregivers at Keck Medicine of USC inspires our team. SLCC provides planning, budgeting, and scheduling services as well as program, project, equipment, financial, and closeout management for Acute Care projects in southern California’s Hospitals.
