Mission Critical - Winter 2008 - (Page 50)

Health-Care Network Offers Glimpse of the Future of Backup Power assett Healthcare, based in Cooperstown, NY, is noteworthy not only for its top-quality patient care, but also for its self-sufficiency. With more than 270 physicians on the payroll (an unusual closed-group practice), Bassett operates a teaching hospital, a research institute, and a network of regional clinics serving eight counties in upstate New York. All of its 24 facilities are protected by emergency backup power systems that go beyond the capabilities of most other hospitals — all using equipment designed and built by Russelectric Inc. In August of 2003, when a surge of electricity to western New York touched off a massive blackout affecting eight states in the Northeast, Midwest, and parts of Canada, Bassett was an island of light in a sea of darkness — up and running on its backup system. The company’s “flagship,” the 180-bed Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in downtown Cooperstown, played a key role by feeding the community, accepting refrigerated vaccines from county offices that had lost power, and providing other services for competing health-care institutions that didn’t have backup power. Bassett is even more secure today, thanks to a 2004 upgrade/expansion that added generating capacity and more capabilities to its advanced emergency power system. Much of the credit goes to Joe Middleton. Middleton, Bassett’s forward-thinking vice president for corporate support services and facilities planning, has a degree in electrical engineering and once taught at the university level. His knowledge and B experience helped him guide Bassett’s board of directors through some tough decisions and significant financial investments to the enviable position they find themselves in today. “Power outages are common,” says Middleton. “But it’s not just a reliability issue; it’s a matter of system redundancy – we’re in a rural area with a single electrical feed and no natural gas service, so it became necessary to create our own secondary power source.” Although hospitals are required to have an emergency power system for critical loads, many are located in communities with a second source of normal power. Some are even served by two electrical utilities. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) code sees this as the ideal, stating: “For the greatest assurance of continuity of electrical service, the normal source should consist of two separate full-capacity services, each independent of the other.” [NFPA 99 2005 ANNEX A.4.4.1.1.1] Bassett employs 2800 people, more than the population of Cooperstown, and sees about 1000 outpatients a day on top of regular admissions. While management’s first concern is how to provide the best patient care, reliable ABOVE: Advances in health-care technology require more electrical devices, such as those shown in this operating room at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital. The hospital’s sophisticated emergency system ensures power is provided to critical equipment if the utility feed is lost for any reason, then returns full power to all other electrical receptacles minutes later. 50 | Mission Critical Winter 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Mission Critical - Winter 2008

Mission Critical - Winter 2008 Table of Contents Editorial: What Have We Been Doing? Cronin’s Workshop: Imagining the Perfect Data Center Power And Cooling Solution Digital Power: The Next Edge in Business Resiliency Zinc Whiskers: Keeping Up With The Green Movement Mission Critical Care: Shipping, Staging, and Installation Legal Perspectives: “A Reliable Energy Supply Is Key to Data Center Success” Continued Payback, Instant Protection Beyond the Nines The Green Information Technology Revolution Health Care Network Offers Glimpse of the Future of Backup Power High-Density Data Centers – Discuss, Design, Deploy High Performance Data Centers Call for Innovative Cooling Techniques More Data in the Data Center Five Considerations for Powering Data Center Racks New Products Industry News Events Classifieds Letters Ad Index Datacenter Wiki: wiki-Mission Critical

Mission Critical - Winter 2008

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