General

Siemens Helping Summa Health System Save $8.1 million in Energy and Labor Costs

10-year savings to pay for project, add millions to provider's capital-projects fund

BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. (March 2003) -Ohio's Summa Health System is undergoing a $4.2 million building infrastructure upgrade to reduce operating costs and improve patient and staff comfort. Remarkably, Summa will accomplish these improvements with no capital outlay. Summa financed the $4.2 million one-year boiler and lighting system upgrade through an innovative performance contract arrangement with Siemens Building Technologies, Inc.

Under terms of the contract, Siemens is guaranteeing $5.8 million in energy savings and $2.3 million in labor savings over a 10-year-period at Summa's Akron City and St. Thomas hospitals. Most of the savings will result from new highly efficient, labor-saving boilers just installed at St. Thomas. Siemens financed the $4.2 million project, which Summa will repay within seven years, from the project's guaranteed savings. The balance of the $8.1 million projected savings will leave Summa with substantial funds for future infrastructure improvements.

"As important as cost savings, improving patient and medical staff comfort and safety were also necessary goals for this project to achieve," said David Jean, Summa's Director of Facilities Engineering. He added that improved boilers and heat distribution throughout facilities will better regulate temperatures and brighter lighting will not only improve visibility but also make interior spaces more cheerful.

Bob Harrigan, Summa executive vice president and COO, said the project's improvements will further position Summa Health System as the model of world-class excellence that other health care providers nationwide will benchmark against.

"Our mission has always been to provide the best health care possible, and the Siemens performance contract is an innovative approach that helps Summa Health System accomplish its capital improvement projects without having to make any capital outlay to achieve these results," Harrigan said.

Preliminary work, begun last fall (2002), involved a careful analysis of the steam heat distribution system at St. Thomas Hospital to identify opportunities to reduce waste via the installation of new energy-efficient package boiler systems to replace ones in operation there since the early 1950s. New boilers went on line in January 2003. Additional work includes retrofitting conventional ballast florescent lighting with brighter, energy-efficient electronic ballast florescent lamps.

Akron City Hospital, built in the early 20th century, and St. Thomas Hospital, built in 1929, have undergone a number of expansions and improvements over the years. While the Akron City Hospital Campus does have a boiler plant, it has been unused for some time. Instead, the facility is heated by steam heat purchased from a privately owned steam plant. Cost for that purchased steam will now be going down, the result of a purchased steam versus in-house steam cost analysis performed by Siemens that helped Summa negotiate a better rate.

The performance contract also specifies replacement of obsolete energy management systems in use at Akron City and St. Thomas with the Siemens APOGEE Building Management System to automatically control heating, ventilating, air conditioning and lighting systems to maximize energy and operating efficiencies and interior comfort even more. The net result will be standardized, state-of-the-art building management systems at Akron City, St. Thomas and Summa's community hospital Cuyahoga Falls General where the most current Siemens system is already in place. This upgrade will permit enhanced utilization as a valuable cost and quality management tool for the SUMMA Facilities Engineering team.

Siemens' Cleveland, OH branch worked with the SUMMA team to develop the program and is managing the performance contract project. Summa officials said Siemens was selected for the project after a careful evaluation of competitive proposals, but also because of Siemens' proven performance over the years with other energy-related projects within the Summa Health System and its expertise in engineering solutions for health care delivery systems. Siemens has performed similar energy performance projects for Metro Health Medical Center, Cleveland, and St. Elizabeth's Hospital, Youngstown.

Facilities director Jean said future cost-savings projects, including water conservation measures, chiller plant improvements and other infrastructure upgrades, are currently being evaluated.

Siemens Building Technologies, Inc. is one of Siemens' operating companies in the United States and is the North American affiliate of Zurich-based Siemens Building Technologies (SBT) AG, the leading single-source provider of cost-effective facility performance solutions for the comfort, life safety, security, energy efficiency and operation of some of the most technically advanced buildings in the world. In North America, SBT employs more than 8,500 professionals and provides local service from more than 400 locations coast-to-coast. Worldwide, SBT employs 36,000 and serves customers in more than 125 countries.

Summa Health System is one of the largest integrated health systems in Ohio. The health system encompasses a network of hospitals, including Akron City, St. Thomas and Cuyahoga Falls General Hospitals, three community health centers, SummaCare Health Plan, Akron City Health System and the Summa Foundation. Providing a full continuum of care from home care, to acute hospital care, to acute rehabilitation, and skilled nursing. Summa is renowned for excellence in patient care and for exceptional approaches to health care delivery. Summa's clinical services continue to be nationally recognized by U.S. News and World Report, Solucient and Healthgrades. SummaCare Health Plan is also receiving recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA awarded the highest level of accreditation to SummaCare's commercial, Medicare and Medicaid product lines.

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