Budget woes. Equipment that has outlived its effectiveness. Unorthodox original decisions and little space to maneuver. The layers are many, but as this project shows, the solutions are there.
Changing laws, advanced technologies, and an aging population are just a few factors driving the cost consciousness of the healthcare industry today. Too often, operational dollars and funding for capital improvements represent the types of investments that do not move the needle quickly enough to affect the bottom line. This limits the design and construction of healthcare facilities to meet short-term needs with little planning toward the future. Further, disruptions within healthcare, and in any critical operation facility, are detrimental and often equate to disruption in revenue.
As profit margins grow slimmer and new regulations are introduced, the justification of newly built facilities is becoming increasingly difficult. For these reasons and more, healthcare organizations are turning to renovation and expansion of their existing facilities, many dating back to the 1960s. Banner Health Boswell Medical Center, for example, is a nonprofit health system based in Phoenix that was originally constructed in 1969. The heart of the Boswell campus is its central utility plant (CUP) that provides cooling, heating, medical gas, and essential electrical infrastructure to the site, producing 5,500kW of essential power, 2,900 tons of chilled water, 400 hp of hot water, and 500 hp of steam.