Customer
Mercy Hospital
Locations
Rogers, Arkansas
Springdale, Arkansas
Bentonville, Arkansas
Services Provided
TAB
CX
Overview of Project
ES2 has extensive experience serving the healthcare sector has helped hospitals and clinics across the country improve operational efficiency, safeguard revenue streams, and create healthier physical environments. Today, we would like to showcase the work performed by our Tulsa branch on three projects for Mercy Health Systems in Northwest Arkansas. We partnered with McCarthy Building Companies and successfully completed NEBB certified Test Adjust and Balance (TAB) services throughout several building projects. Meeting the need of the growing Northwest Arkansas community and region, Mercy brings a full range of health care services housed in specialized medical facilities. ES2 was selected for these projects because of our past record of team solutions methodology delivering quality services for complex projects with tight schedules.
Mercy Clinic Springdale project was a ground-up construction of a state-of-the-art multilevel multispecialty clinic with a 24-hour emergency department. At 63,000-square-feet, the center is Mercy’s largest outpatient clinic in northwest Arkansas. The building includes advanced mechanical equipment serving 29 primary care exam rooms and 34 specialty care exam rooms, advanced medical imaging equipment for nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and X-ray technology. The ED facility houses 12 exam rooms, two triage rooms, a trauma room, an isolation room, and three behavioral rooms.
ES2’s TAB team quickly identified and resolved potential constructability issues to streamline the final phases of construction and complete the project within an efficient 13-month schedule. Working closely with Engineer of Record and commissioning firm Heideman Associates, ES2 assessed site conditions and reviewed data to mediate team solutions to ensure the facility’s mechanical systems met or exceeded field performance according to design.
With the Mercy Clinic in Springdale near completion, ES2’s TAB team began working on the $277 million hospital expansion that added 150 additional patient beds, more cardiac and general operating rooms, and expanded services to the existing Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas.
Beginning with an assessment of existing mechanical conditions and functional testing, our collected data was communicated to the Engineer of Record and commissioning firm Bernhard TME. Together we furnished remedial solutions for the active expansion project that would meet the latest ASHRAE 170 design parameters.
The central plant chillers, cooling towers, boilers, chilled water, and heating water pumps were all tested for proper flow and functionality, along with all the facility's exhaust systems. Work began on the second floor by calibrating VAV boxes and proportioning associated grills. There were approximately 1,040 VAV boxes in the new tower, along with over 3,000 supply, return and exhaust grills. While monitoring the third floor OR suites, our team discovered that both the AHU and MAU feeding them were running with a higher degree of pressure and at a higher velocity than designed. During our investigation, the team determined that the larger water heating coils would optimize efficiency. A duct traverse of the VAV boxes feeding the OR suites, differential static pressures across the heating water coils, and differential pressures across the VAV themselves revealed that the boxes were producing the required airflow. The smaller heating coils caused the system to run at a higher speed, triggering higher static pressure. ES2 met with the engineering team, equipment manufacturer, and construction team; our findings led to a favorable solution for the OR suites. New heating water coils were installed for all eight boxes that feed the OR suites, reducing the fan speed from 56 Hz to 44 Hz.
While working on various floors, ES2 delivered preliminary TAB reports that allowed the hospital to open its Isolation Rooms, Operating Rooms, Decontamination, Birthing Suites, and Pharmacy; to allow Mercy to expand medical services in safe environments to the people of Northwest Arkansas. ES2 also lent its expertise to the ongoing hospital renovation. Finally, ES2 assisted with the commissioning of these projects, ensuring that building performance and efficiency were maximized.
ES2’s contribution to the success of these projects resulted in an ongoing annual assessment with Mercy to recertify its life safety rooms across multiple campuses, including the main hospital in Rogers, the new Springdale clinic, and several hospitals and clinics in Rogers and Bentonville. We look forward to our partnership with Mercy as they expand their footprint and aim to provide healthy, safe built environments for its patients, staff, and communities.
