Manufacturer's Attentiveness Helps Medical Center's Recovery

Texas Medical Center in Houston, Texas, faced its own emergency medical requirements in June 2001, after Tropical Storm Allison dumped 39 inches of rain in the area in just two days. The center, which covers more than 700 acres and incorporates more than 100 permanent buildings, including 13 hospitals, two specialty institutions, two medical schools and two nursing schools, faced severe flooding damage. Basements housing power supplies filled with water, knocking out transformers, switches and other electrical equipment.

"It was unbelievable," said Danny Colwell, president of the center's electrical-contracting firm, Colwell Electric. "Switches, generators, transfer switches-all underwater."

Quick responsiveness of the center's switchgear supplier helped speed the center's recovery. Colwell was able to order $100,000 of replacement parts immediately, an order that required coordination among several of the manufacturers' service centers. The initial order, including 40 new transfer switches, was placed on a Friday. New switches began arriving the next Wednesday, despite a typical turnaround time of six to 10 weeks. They continued to arrive at a rate of three or four switches a day. To help expedite the process, the manufacturer's Dallas office sent six sales people to Houston to handle paperwork and keep order processing and shipping moving forward.

Critical areas at the medical center were up and running within six days. Service to remaining areas was restored in less than a month.

From Pure Power, Winter 2002