The hospital had an older duplex medical air system that was experiencing long-term, intermittent problems. The medical gas company caring for the medical air system suggested that the system be replaced and quoted the new project.
The hospital construction team got together and estimated the cost for the replacement system. The hospital set aside a budget of $187,000. The budget included architectural drawings, engineering specs, the general contractor, equipment, permits, construction and a contingency fund. The project timeline came in at approximately 11 months to complete.
The Director of Facilities contacted us for a second opinion. We performed a complimentary equipment evaluation and put our pencils to work. We quoted a medical air package plan that would save them about $40,000.00 off their big budget.
But we also approached them with an alternate plan. Although their medical air pumps were older, they were in very reasonable condition. Rehabbing their pumps could buy them several more years of operation. The rest of their system was in fine shape. It just needed revitalizing. We quoted the retrofit, including the work necessary to put the system back into good working order. The hospital chose the retrofit.
We rehabbed the system, the dryers and the medical air pumps. We replaced the control panel, the dew point and carbon monoxide monitors. We touched every component in the system and gave it a new lease on life.
We performed the rehab in 2014. The system is still running and operating to the manufacturer’s specifications. The rehab cost a little over $35,000.00. That equates to savings of over $152,000.00. The project took about 8 weeks to complete, including ordering time. Our price included rentals to keep the hospital live during the rehab – no downtime.
The project was challenging and rewarding. The rehabbed system is NFPA99 compliant and is working like a charm to this day. The hospital saw a tremendous saving, and we ended up with contracts to care for their other medical source equipment, including their second facility.
