The board approved the purchase of a new UPS unit from Liebert — which would include the new unit and removal of the existing unit — for a total cost of $73,769.
The Liebert unit was one of three units administration looked at; however, the other two vendors — Data Network Solutions and D & B — did not include the price of removing the existing unit into their bids and both came in with higher pricing. Data Network Solutions was the high bidder, coming in at a cost of $84,922 for just a new unit.
Upgrades to the power supply at the hospital with the new unit will cost nearly $5,200 and additional computer wiring for the new UPS unit will add another $2,800 to the cost of the new unit, bringing the total price tag for the Liebert unit to $81,765.
The unit’s price — after administration had the opportunity to update quotes — actually came in about $15,000 less than previous estimates.
Prior to making the decision, the board discussed the possibility of holding off on making any capital expenditure decisions — outside any emergency situations — until a new board could be seated.
The county currently is waiting to hear back from the Statehouse on a measure that would allow county council to appoint a 10-member hospital board with three ex-officio physician members. The measure is a means to correct the existing conflict of interest — as defined by the existing law concerning a hospital board’s makeup — with physicians employed by the hospital district also seated on its board.
Once that measure is approved in Columbia, it then must be brought back to county council and become county ordinance. Supervisor Tommy Sinclair, who was present at Thursday’s hospital board meeting, told board members the process is moving forward and there is a possibility it could be complete within 60 days.
Some board members thought holding off on making any large expenditure decisions in addition to holding off on any major management decisions — as requested by county council — until that new board could be seated was a good idea. That way the new board could handle the situations.
However, district vice president of support services Fred Howard said the state of the existing power supply unit already was at that emergency level.
“This is serious,” he said. “This is a serious need.”
The board ultimately agreed and approved the purchase of the new unit.
District chief financial officer Jim Barmes brought the request to purchase a new UPS unit to board members last month. The board decided then to table the decision until it could be given updated pricing information, which Howard brought to members Thursday.
The existing unit is at its maximum load and administration fears if a serious power failure were to occur and the system did not come back on it would result in the major loss of information and a likely interruption in business at the hospital.
The UPS is essential for continuity of systems at the hospital in the event a power outage were to occur and both of the facility’s generators failed. The systems in question contain all patient and operational information.
The current UPS unit was purchased in 1999 in preparation for Y2K and has fully depreciated. It currently is running at a load of 96 percent where as the normal load would be at 80 percent. The hospital has no room for expansion with the current system and if the power were to go out and generators were to fail the only emergency power supply to the data center is through the UPS.
Board members also were asked to approve a capital expenditure for a new payroll system at Ellen Sagar Nursing Home to bring the facility up to date with the other entities within the district.
The board, however, opted to hold off on that decision until a later date, citing the need is not as immediate as the UPS unit.
In other business, board members:
• Were presented with the winner of the April Award of Excellence, Freddie Jeter who works with Aramark in the environmental services department at Wallace Thomson.
• Heard the February financial report from Barmes. The district was once again in the black for the month and the current fiscal year.
• Heard reports from Wallace Thomson chief of staff Dr. David Keith, hospital district CEO Bill Leonard, Carolinas Health Associates administrator Steve Goings and corporate compliance and safety director Susan Foster.
The next meeting of the Union Hospital District Board of Trustees will be Thursday, May 6.
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