Like other medical facilities, Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center in Milwaukee uses drives to control critical environments. Recently, personnel from ABB’s New Berlin facility visited the medical center to gain a better understanding of how their products serve the end user. They came away with a new appreciation for the importance of quality and fast order fulfillment to end users.
The visit began at JMB & Associates, the local ABB Representative for HVAC products, serving the medical center. Jody Seidler, the service manager for JMB & Associates, explained to the group how “having ABB support us enables us to serve customers on a daily basis.” He explained that an advantage of ABB drives is the fast warranty and “hot job” turnaround time on emergency orders.
Clean Air, Temp Control Help Save Lives
In many instances, the failure of a drive in the field can result in production downtime and significant financial loss; in the case of St. Luke’s and other medical facilities, the failure of a drive can be much more catastrophic.
“HVAC systems are vital because -- just as one example -- for surgeons, any fluctuation in temperature can cause their glasses or computer screens to fog, and that impedes critical conditions, so it is crucial to keep air temperatures in control,” explained Cherian Varghese, HVAC supervisor at St. Luke’s.
Along with temperature control, ABB drives also control the fans for the hospital’s 3-filter system, which filters the supply air into the building and surgical rooms, keeping the air sterile and preventing infection.
“Hospitals never close,” noted Cherian, “so reliability is key -- and we are very pleased with how ABB Variable Frequency Drives help us ensure these operating conditions that we need.”
St. Luke’s has nearly 100 ABB drives controlling cooling towers, chilled water pumps, and supply and return fans throughout the facility, including in the new Patient Tower -- the 12 storey, 430,000 sq ft addition that houses 8 new operating rooms, 78 intensive care units, and 192 private patient rooms.
A Circle of Care
When the ABB employees were asked about their experience on this customer visit, Gene Brittain, a regional application engineer, noted, “It’s easy to see how every person has a hand in providing the highest product quality and support possible, so hospitals like St. Luke’s feel confident to use our products.”
This is the second in a series of ongoing customer-site visits initiated by Aaron Aleithe, VP and GM of Low Voltage Drives and Motors.
“Our goal with these visits is to see both how products our factory teams produce are used -- and also how they truly impact people’s lives, across a host of operations,” said George Lord, managing director of operations for the ABB factory.