As efforts to expand hospital capacity for COVID-19 patients accelerate across the country, partnerships like the one between Siemens and Haugland Energy Group LLC (a division of Haugland Group LLC) to support the Westchester County Center Alternate Care Facility in White Plains, New York, are proving instrumental in the swift delivery of critical supplies and expertise.
The collaboration is enabling the 110-bed temporary facility, being housed inside the Westchester County Center and across four tents in the center’s parking lot, with the power distribution and building technologies necessary to provide care for patients affected by COVID-19 and to protect hospital staff.
To ensure reliable power across the site, Siemens supplied several critical power infrastructure technologies including panelboards, custom-made switchboards, circuit breakers, load centers, and automatic transfer switches. Many components were custom-built and shipped within days from Siemens’ U.S. manufacturing sites spanning Grand Prairie, Texas, Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Hingham, Massachusetts.
“Everybody understood this was an emergency situation and went above and beyond to deliver the supplies and services that were urgently needed,” said Matt Martinez, technical director at Siemens Government Technologies. “With the support of our CEO Tina Dolph and the extended leadership team, who removed barriers every step of the way, we were able to get this project done in record time and ensure that the Army Corps and the state of New York had the support they needed on the frontlines of our nation’s fight against COVID-19.”
In addition, to optimize the spaces for specialized care, Siemens supplied pressure monitoring systems for every patient room to ensure negative air pressure and minimize further transmission of the virus, nurse call stations in each room that feed back to master stations, and building automation control for the tents.
Siemens and Haugland Energy worked diligently to support the state of New York and meet the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ timeline to substantially complete the construction of the temporary hospital in 21 days. The companies completed and submitted their proposal to the Army Corps within twelve hours and began work immediately following notification of the project award. To get products on-site as quickly as possible, lead times were cut from weeks to days. For example, Siemens designed, built, and shipped the custom switchboards in only two days. Russelectric, a Siemens company, delivered the automatic transfer switches in less than five days.
Behind the scenes, Siemens teams worked strategically across business divisions focused on manufacturing and operations, distribution, customer support, and sales to meet the healthcare facility’s unique needs. That included the prefabrication of pressure monitoring systems at a local branch office for quick mobilization to the site and the inclusion of additional safety mechanisms to provide control over the air handling units in the tents.
“Rapid response relief efforts like what has been put forth on the Westchester County Center ACF show the strength, agility and diversity of Haugland Group,” said Billy Haugland, Jr., Co-President of Haugland Group. “The unwavering dedication, patriotism and ‘New York Strength’ demonstrated by the men and women on our frontlines constructing this facility under such an accelerated timeline highlights how well we band together as a community for the good of humanity in times of crisis. We are thankful to our partners in government, subcontractors, vendors and team members that contributed to this complex undertaking, and we are proud to provide essential services that will further facilitate other critical healthcare functions to be performed as we continue our global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Undertaking a healthcare project of this magnitude is incredibly complex and to complete it within weeks under today’s unprecedented circumstances is truly a testament to the dedication of our employees, partners and suppliers,” said Dave Hopping, president and CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure USA. “I thank Governor Cuomo for his leadership in this response effort. We’re proud that our technology and know-how will not only help New Yorkers affected by COVID-19 but also continues to support hospital environments and other critical infrastructure across the country.”
For more information on how Siemens is taking action to combat the crisis, visit its COVID-19 response page.
Tagged with Covid-19, Siemens