All-electric hospital will be the country's first when it opens in 2025

Reducing energy consumption, emissions part of UCI Health commitment to community and environment

The 144-bed acute care hospital for UCI Health — Irvine
is shown under construction. (Credit: Scott Smeltzer / Daily Pilot)

IN THE NEWS: UCI Health has made the challenge of addressing climate change one of its top priorities. In 2025, another sustainability milestone will be achieved when UCI Health — Irvine opens the nation’s first all-electric hospital.

Joe Brothman, director of facilities and general services, spoke to the Daily Pilot about the project last week.

Since hospitals and operating rooms typically run 24 hours a day, they consume massive amounts of energy and resources. Addressing this was imperative for Brothman, his team, as well as UCI Health and University of California leadership.

“If our operations are contributing to negative health externalities, especially disproportionately in underserved populations that have historically had negative health effects because of energy, we’re not fulfilling our mission,” he said.

The nation’s first medical center powered by an all-electric central utilities plant, UCI Health — Irvine will be home to:

The state-of-the art “chillers” on the central utility plant, will be used for cooling the acute care hospital at the UCI Health — Irvine. (Credit: Scott Smeltzer/Daily Pilot)

• The Joe C. Wen & Family UCI Health Center for Advanced Care, a five-story, 168,000-square-foot medical facility offering urgent care and the full range of multidisciplinary specialty care for children and adults under a single roof, and house the UCI Health Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental Disorders — opening spring 2024
• The Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building, a five-story, 225,000-square-foot tower with 36 private exam rooms, numerous infusion bays and operating rooms, and clinical programs in oncology, neurology, neurosurgery, orthopedics/spine surgery and digestive health — opening 2024
• A seven-story, 350,000-square-foot, acute care hospital with 144 inpatient beds, 10 operating suites and a 24-hour emergency department with 20 treatment rooms — opening 2025

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