Choctaw General Hospital

Project Location: Butler, Alabama
Completion Date: March 2012

Challenge
to provide maximum comfort and energy savings in the patient care addition of a critical access hospital

Solution
A VRF zoning system from Mitsubishi Electric

Result
The hospital now enjoys best-in-class performance, twice the energy savings, individual zoned comfort and the perfect room temperature for health care patients

Founded in 1915, Meridian, Mississippi-based Rush Health Systems (Rush) is a comprehensive health care network serving East Central Mississippi and West Central Alabama. Rush opened Choctaw General Hospital in 2012. The 74,000-square-foot critical access hospital is the only one in Choctaw County, Alabama.

Fred Rogers, Rush Health Systems’ veteran vice president, chief resource officer and facility manager decided to renovate an existing building for the administration portion of his new hospital and enlisted architects to create plans for a new 44,000-square-foot addition to house the patient care section.

For the new patient care addition, Rogers easily selected the Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) zoning system from Mitsubishi Electric. “Fortunately, I installed my first Mitsubishi Electric VRF [zoning] system years ago in our flagship Rush Health Systems hospital in downtown Meridian. That system saved me $36,000 the first year.

I now specify this excellent VRF zoning system for all new critical access hospitals we build: Choctaw is our fifth. This technology is the finest for the very specific needs of the health care industry,” Rogers said.

Stan Williamson, a senior project manager with McLain Plumbing & Electrical Services, Inc., Philadelphia, Mississippi, installed the VRF zoning system. “I have been in the HVAC industry all my life and have really been impressed with this VRF zoning system from Mitsubishi Electric,” Williamson said. “I have experience with every VRF-type system in the industry and I can say that Mitsubishi Electric’s engineering and design is the finest in the business. In fact, it is twice as energy efficient as all the rest, and it is especially beneficial in the health care industry.”

Williamson especially likes Mitsubishi Electric’s individual zoning capability. “In health care facilities, a patient in one room is going to want it cold while his neighbor next door wants it hot. Mitsubishi Electric’s simultaneous cooling and heating capacity is the best in the industry. Conventional systems cannot do this,” he said.

Choctaw Hospital Administrator J.W. Cowan says patient care is his number one priority, and he gives his Mitsubishi Electric VRF zoning systems credit for providing the comfortable environment that his patients greatly appreciate. “But I have never had one patient complaint because this Mitsubishi Electric system is such a good fit with hospitals. The indoor units are so quiet the patient is not aware they are operating. And the individual room controls are so precise my patients are always comfortable,” said Cowan. “I was with a patient today whom I have to move to Alabama’s largest [800 bed] hospital. She remarked, ‘I don’t want to go because they always keep it cold and I know I will be uncomfortable. Here, my room is always at the right temperature.’”

The VRF zoning system also resulted in lower energy costs for Choctaw.

“When I look at my monthly energy bills, I am shocked at how affordable my costs are— especially during the peak summer and winter months,” Cowan continued. “I attribute this largely to the energy-saving aspects of my Mitsubishi Electric system.”

Project Team

Owner: Rush Health Systems, Meridian, Mississippi
Architect: The Burell Group Architects, Birmingham, Alabama
HVAC Contractor: McLain Plumbing & Electrical Services, Inc., Philadelphia, Mississippi
General Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie, Birmingham, Alabama
HVAC Distributor: General Supply & Machine Co., Inc., Meridian, Mississippi