Hospital administrators have one key concern that drives all decision-making: how to provide the highest quality care to their patients cost-effectively and efficiently. In today’s challenging environment, hospital leadership is thinking of ways to reduce costs while maintaining high patient care and safety standards.
Unique energy demands require reliable, green solutions
It’s no secret that hospitals have unique energy needs. Given the critical care that hospitals and healthcare facilities provide, any disruption to energy delivery can have dire consequences.
In addition, hospitals serve patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Their operations depend on energy for heating, cooling, and, importantly, sterilization to ensure patient safety. These demanding energy needs mean that healthcare facilities consume nearly 10% of the total energy used in U.S. commercial buildings and spend more than $8 billion annually.
Many leading U.S. cities also have aggressive climate action goals. Hospitals typically have an energy use intensity nearly three times that of the average commercial building, so sustainable energy has become a non-negotiable requirement for hospitals and medical facilities that provide cutting-edge care.
How Vicinity can help
Today, lighting, space heating, and water heating represent about 65% of hospital energy use. Hospitals and healthcare facilities must have a reliable energy partner that provides continuous energy delivery while keeping costs low and reducing carbon emissions.
Vicinity currently serves nearly 28 million square feet of healthcare facility space in the U.S. By connecting to Vicinity’s district energy systems, healthcare teams have access to reliable, sustainable, and clean energy and are supported by a team of experts to ensure their property is always running smoothly and efficiently. Our specialists include experienced licensed engineers, operators, and financial professionals.
In Baltimore, leading healthcare providers at Mercy Medical Center have relied on Vicinity’s district energy system to power their critical care since 1963. One of the top hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland, Mercy Medical Center is renowned for excellence in primary care and specialty care in women’s health, cancer, digestive health, liver disease, and more. While Vicinity provides chilled water and steam for the hospital’s daily operations, Mercy can focus on fostering a community of compassionate care for their patients.
Robert Beckwith, vice president of support services and construction at Mercy Medical Center, offered his perspective on the partnership: “The steam and chilled water services that Vicinity Energy provides are crucial to the operational efficiency of our hospital and support our mission to provide excellent and compassionate clinical care to all citizens of Baltimore.”
Additionally, Vicinity has partnered with Oklahoma State University (OSU) to provide chilled water and steam service to a new medical campus. This project will combine multiple existing buildings into a state-of-the-art hospital. Vicinity will serve the entire 58-bed medical-surgical inpatient hospital for Oklahoma veterans, totaling over 275,000 square feet of building space. District energy will allow the medical campus to provide the highest level of care for Tulsa’s veteran population.
Vicinity’s long-term partnerships with healthcare institutions in Baltimore and beyond enable healthcare teams to focus on providing quality clinical care to patients.
How district energy supports optimal patient care
By relying on our energy experts to manage energy infrastructure and ensure an uninterrupted supply of service, healthcare providers can focus on what matters most: advancing human health and saving lives.
- Increased reliability and sustainability – District energy is safer and more sustainable than onsite chillers or boilers.
- Maximized critical space – District energy service eliminates the need for in-building boilers, chillers, and cooling towers so that healthcare facilities can free up space for life-saving equipment. Hospitals connected to district systems can make smart, economical use of all the space that would otherwise be dedicated to large, costly equipment.
- Optimized sterilization and humidification – The CDC recommends steam sanitation over conventional sanitation methods. Hospitals use our high-pressure steam for space humidification to support infection control and patient comfort. Our clean steam solutions provide proper air and comfort for healing, empowering hospital staff to provide patients with top-quality care.
- Uninterrupted energy supply – Healthcare facilities with existing onsite energy plants require experienced O&M experts to ensure that they are operating correctly, and that energy is supplied at all times. Proper O&M of energy infrastructure is essential to ensuring that healthcare facilities have the energy to operate 24/7.
Get started with district energy today to decarbonize your healthcare facilities and access reliable, uninterrupted service.
