The Grossmont Healthcare District board of directors recently unanimously approved plans to greatly improve energy efficiency and reliability at Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, Calif.
The GHD board approved financing and a purchase agreement that will replace decades-old equipment with new, state-of-the-art cogeneration energy equipment at the regional medical facility. Estimated to cost $18 million to install, the hospital’s cogeneration project is projected to save millions in energy costs and provide a reliable source for up to 95 percent of the hospital’s electricity needs, GHD officials said.
“We are very excited to take this important step that will provide a safe and reliable energy source for patient care and, at the same time, protect the environment,” said Debbie McElravy, GHD 2012 board president.
Built by Solar Turbines of San Diego, the hospital’s cogeneration equipment will feature emergency generators, chillers powered by both steam and electricity, a heat recovery steam generator, related cooling towers, boilers and medical gas equipment.
Installation of the cogeneration equipment will begin as construction proceeds on a new 18,000-square-foot central energy plant with equipment that will help meet all future energy needs of the hospital. The cogeneration equipment will be part of the central energy plant building to be located in a southeastern portion of the hospital property, where a parking lot previously existed. McCarthy Building Companies was recently awarded a $34-million contract to build the plant.
The plant is one of several hospital improvement projects being financed with a $247-million bond measure called Proposition G that voters approved in 2006. However, the cost for the new cogeneration equipment is not part of the Prop. G-funded construction. GHD is borrowing $18 million to add the cogeneration equipment to the central energy plant. The $18 million, nine-year loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland has a tax-exempt interest rate of 2.09 percent. GHD CEO Barry Jantz said loan payments to RBS will be made by Grossmont Hospital Corporation, a nonprofit entity that operates and leases the hospital from GHD to Sharp HealthCare of San Diego. The 30-year lease with the district expires May 2021.
