Advocate South Suburban Hospital is a 289-bed, acute care facility. With nearly 400 doctors on staff, they offer the latest in heart care, emergency care, surgery, and extensive rehabilitation services. The Patient Buildings HVAC upgrades included the isolation room exhaust system, the patient room radiant heating and cooling system, lighting to the corridors on the second, third and fourth floors, and the replacement of two major air handlers serving those spaces. Corridor upgrades provided improved lighting for staff and way finding for patients and visitors. The air handler replacements were necessary to improve the reliability of these important systems.

A significant challenge was to minimize disruption to the hospital’s operations while the upgrades were taking place. The air handlers serving the patient rooms, LDR rooms, and isolation suites were upgraded with minimal interruption because the design accommodated and planned for the use of excess air from an existing, nearby air handler and return fan which bypassed the equipment during the replacement. The new air handlers use a fan array design to save on space and allowed the replacement to occur with the temporary connections in place.