News | Healthcare

Enhancing Critical Power for FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital

The new 135,000 square foot, $125 million Beebe Specialty Surgical Hospital in Southern Delaware will open its doors in May 2022. This state-of-the-art facility will provide regional communities with advanced specialty surgery and recovery technology.

Chapter 7 of the National Fire Protection Association Standard 110 (NFPA 110), entitled “Installation and Environmental Considerations,” provides minimum installation requirements for backup power systems in critical applications. It applies to new and existing Emergency Power Supply Systems (EPSS), providing certain minimum standards recognized as essential for successful EPSS operation where a power outage would create a life safety risk.

Since 1999, Baltimore, Maryland-based Brightview Senior Living has been providing seniors with a vibrant place to live. The company builds, owns and operates more than 40 award-winning senior living communities along the East Coast – and is growing. Its new Brightview Fair Oaks community is expected to open this summer in Fairfax, Virginia. Brightview Fair Oaks will feature resident apartment homes for independent living and assisted living as well as specialized Memory Care for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. Partnering for Seamless Delivery of a Complex Project

Curtis Power Solutions, working under Starr Electric and Environmental Air Solutions while collaborating closely with Russelelectric as their gear and ATS supplier, played a critical role on the team that designed and implemented a modular Central Utility Plant (CUP) for the new Capital Region Medical Center complex. The new facility—designed for LEED Silver certification and powered by 21st century technology—replaces the aging 75-year-old Prince George’s Hospital Center in Cheverly, MD.

When it comes to power generation for health care facilities providing lifesaving services, there are three prime National Fire Protection Association codes designed to eliminate harm to people and property due to fire, electrical and related hazards. NFPA 70 (the “National Electrical Code” or “NEC”), NFPA 110 (written for emergency and standby power systems) and NFPA 99 Health Care Facilities Code (NFPA 99) most directly regulate electrical systems.

Code Electric, Inc. California-based GRAIL, Inc. is a healthcare research laboratory that is in the process of developing a revolutionary single blood test that can reveal early-stage evidence of more than 50 types of cancers.

Co-generation, also known as Combined Heat and Power (CHP), is the on-site production of multiple types of energy — usually electricity, heat and/or cooling — from a single source of fuel. While co-generation is not a new concept, we are seeing renewed interest in CHP systems as a viable way to make facilities more resilient while reducing energy costs and helping to meet sustainability and emissions reduction goals.

The Fort Washington Medical Center in Prince George’s County, Maryland, was the first hospital in the nation in May 2020 to install a modular ICU unit dedicated to the in-patient treatment of people suffering from Covid-19 infection. The STAAT Mod (Strategic, Temporary, Acuity-Adaptable Treatment Modular) units were subsequently installed at six other hospitals in Maryland, and Curtis Power Solutions was selected by the Maryland Department of General Services to provide 17 150 kW generators, automatic transfer switches and fuel tanks to these facilities, another temporary ICU at the Baltimore Convention Center, and two major coronavirus testing stations in the state. Altogether, Curtis Power Solutions currently has 24 units on rent for Covid-19 facilities.

The term “Emergency Generator” is often used incorrectly to describe the generator used to provide backup power to a facility. Officially, as defined by NFPA 70, National Electrical Code (NEC), there are four types of backup or standby power systems: Emergency Systems, Legally Required Standby Systems, Optional Standby Systems and Critical Operations Power Systems (COPS). Understanding the differences among these system classifications is important for determining which codes and standards apply and for what the design, installation, inspection, maintenance and testing requirements are for the backup power system.