Lewis-Gale Medical Center

Project Summary

Lewis-Gale Medical Center’s success depends on reliable operation and service of their HVAC system. Trane provided an integrated service solution that includes the central monitoring of more than 200 points of critical alarms and events that are mission critical to delivering an environment of care. Trane field service technicians are delivering on a Scheduled Service Agreement to ensure equipment is maintained at peak operating condition. The HVAC system includes Trane chillers and Tracer Summit™ controls throughout the facility.

The Challenge

Patient outcomes, financial performance, and patient and staff satisfaction are critical to any health system. HVAC system reliability and service are paramount to achieving these critical success factors. Since the Lewis-Gale Medical Center cooling plant does not have 100 percent backup, immediate response is crucial to maintaining operational uptime. To achieve and maintain high level performance, Lewis-Gale Medical Center requires:

• Continuous monitoring of critical alarms and events
• Immediate response to HVAC system faults
• Prompt, accurate diagnosis
• Remote alarm and event remediation
• Well-prepared on-site service

The Solution

The Trane Scheduled Service Agreement with the Trane Central Monitoring service provides 24/7/365 monitoring and alarm routing managed with an automated system to alert the Trane remote services staff of a critical event. Trane technical specialists immediately respond to remotely interrogate the system and perform fault diagnostics. Trane technical specialists can remotely resolve up to 40 percent of alarms and events without rolling a service truck. If on-site service is needed, Trane field service technicians are well-equipped with the systems knowledge needed to expedite repairs. Prescribed service is also done by Trane technicians to ensure peak performance.

The Results

Lewis-Gale Medical Center consistently ranks among the top medical centers in Virginia and the nation due in large part to their partnership with Trane and the first-class service provided by Trane remote services:

• Top ranking in health outcomes, safety, satisfaction and evidence-based medicine
• Thirty percent reduction in service truck rolls for reduced operating costs
• Six minute average response time speeds remediation activities
• Sixty-seven minute resolution time minimizes downtime

Larry Doyle, Director of Engineering and Planning at Lewis-Gale, said, "HVAC System uptime is paramount to our operations and is mission critical to provide an Environment of Care for the treatment of our patients. The Trane Central Monitoring service has significantly reduced system downtime, cut operational costs and improved the comfort of our patients and staff. Trane Central Monitoring detects critical system alarms and responds to remedy a fault before we even realize there’s a problem in many cases. In instances where the fault cannot be resolved remotely, Trane mobilizes a technician who comes prepared to fix it right the first time."

No matter how critical your operation may be, Trane can provide innovative, total system-integrated service solutions to meet your needs.