As a critical element of University Health’s (UH) bustling Medical Center campus, the Operating Rooms in Sky Tower have been serving UH patients faithfully for ten years. Originally part of the 10-story addition to the campus in 2014, the Sky Tower continues to operate as one of the County’s preeminent medical facilities. After a decade of near-constant use, UH determined it needed to modernize the Sky Tower’s OR equipment to maintain the highest standard of patient care.
Each OR required a new “boom arm,” a piece of medical equipment that provides essential utilities to surgeons and doctors during surgery. The boom arm systems centralize and organize critical resources, such as medical gases, electrical power, and data services, ensuring a streamlined and efficient surgical environment. University Health identified 36 ORs needed upgraded equipment with a key phasing requirement: these renovations would have to be done in two-room increments to accommodate surgeons’ schedules and to allow the hospital to have most of its OR rooms available for patients and UH requested that two rooms be renovated every two weeks.
Led by David Bourassa, Principal of Healthcare Practice, our team helped identify the necessary Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) upgrades needed to accommodate the new equipment. First, David and the CZ team conducted site surveys to confirm existing conditions and verify the hospital’s gas and electrical capacities. It was determined that the new boom arms required more power than the previous equipment. This delta meant that the design team had to determine the power the hospital could provide to verify that the arms would have enough electricity to operate. The team also had to meet the NFPA 99 and TDHSS requirements to supply medical gas to all of the rooms. Coordination with University Health, the technology contractor, Brain Lab, and the equipment contractor, Getinge was essential to demolishing the old equipment and installing the new boom arms.
Once in construction, the team became familiar with the two-week cadence and process required for each renovation. The project team became efficient with the renovations and optimized the current schedule, so now, halfway through the renovations, the team can renovate two rooms every week.
The renovations are slated for completion by December 2024. As the project progresses, David is leading the charge, holding weekly meetings every Thursday to update UH and the contractors on the renovation process.
Works Cited
“Sky Tower Opens Its Doors, Ushers in New Era at University Hospital | University Health.” University Health, 2014, www.universityhealth.com/news/sky-tower-open-its-door. Accessed 23 Oct. 2024.
