4/2/2015
Trav Paulk with Valdosta Electric, SGMC Assistant Administrator of Engineering and Facilities Mo Mosher, and Tim Davies with HPD Atlanta accept the VISTA Award for Infrastructure at the International Summit and Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design and Construction in San Antonio, Texas. For the second consecutive year, South Georgia Medical Center received the Vista Award for Infrastructure from the American Society for Healthcare Engineering. This year’s award honored SGMC’s generator plant project completed in Sept. of 2013. According to ASHE, the Vista Awards recognize the significance of collaboration in creating optimal health care environments. Winners exemplify outstanding teamwork in all stages of their respective health care projects, from pre-planning to the final reveal.SGMC’s power plant from the 1980s was replaced with a modern, state-of-the-art plant designed to provide emergency power for the SGMC Main Campus as well as the new Dasher Memorial Heart Center and Patient Tower. The new power plant houses 42 miles of cables and conduit. This new system has two, 2 MW emergency diesel generators (EDG’s) with the capacity for additional EDG’s, so emergency power needs can be met for the next 50 years. SGMC now has peace of mind in the face of unforeseen electricity emergencies, thanks to this innovative new plant.The new generator plant involved modifying or replacing major portions of the utility generation, distribution and control systems which involved significant project planning. Bill Forbes, SGMC’s Chief Planning Officer, credited the success of the project to a generous spirit of teamwork between local vendors, Valdosta Electric, Cauthon Construction, and Valdosta Mechanical, and the hospitals’ own engineering and clinical staff. Tim Davies, the project’s lead engineer with firm HPD Atlanta said, “Everyone made themselves available to help each other out and solve problems.” Major utility services on campus were relocated for the new plant. According to Terry Havard SGMC Director of Construction, the hospitals’ staff and local contractors’ historical knowledge of campus infrastructure made the difference in managing the intricate siting and phasing issues involved in relocating services without disrupting patient care. Thanks to careful planning and teamwork, the hospital was disconnected less than one hour total over eight weeks of power migration events involving nearly 700,000 square feet of building space.Design elements from elsewhere on campus are incorporated into the plant’s façade and landscaping. The building and site design are meant to unify architectural styles and improve traffic flow on campus. For more information on the Vista awards, visit www.ashe.org.
