St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center

St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center

St. Joseph’s Healthcare System has invested $250 million towards expansion and renovation investment projects for several St. Joseph Medical Centers and Hospitals nation-wide. Vitatech was commissioned to assess various electrical closets, distribution room and the main switchgear room adjacent to occupied spaces such as office areas, emergency exam area, nursing stations, basement lounge, triage area, and imaging lab.

A detailed magnetic field simulated assessment was preformmed of the switchgear room and electrical closets under average and peak building loads. Simulated magnetic fields ranging from over 10 mG RMS to a peak of several hundred milligauss were identified in occupied spaces adjacent to the electrical sources (i.e., above the main switchgear room, North/South electrical closets on four floors, etc.) of the Hospital. The electrical distribution equipment in the basement and main floor levels indicated that patients being treated within specific triage areas directly above these electrified areas were subjected to moderate and elevated magnetic levels. Emergency exam rooms, operating suites and imaging areas within this facility also yielded mitigation services from nearby electrical sources to project patient implant defibrillators and medical diagnostic equipment from potential EMI issues.

Vitatech designed and installed AC ELF magnetic shielding systems in various electrical rooms within St. Josephs Regional Medical Center to insure the safety of staff, patients and medical equipment are within acceptable environmental levels ranging from 5 mG RMS to 10 mG RMS. The shielded magnetic field levels after installation showed significant attenuation, specifically within the basement switchgear room with simulated levels of several hundred milligauss above at 1-meter and recorded levels of only 1.24 mG RMS after Vitatech installed the shielding and completed the final testing.

Posted in: Healthcare Mitigation