The power behind patient care: Behind-the-scenes processes that keep healthcare running
In hospitals, power is life. A momentary outage can disrupt surgeries, pause life-sustaining equipment, compromise patient safety, and damage critical medical data. For hospital owners, even a single hour of downtime can cost a hospital hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial damage. That’s why it’s critical that behind every treatment and device is a seamless, resilient power system and a capable team of people who maintain it.
This article discusses examples of critical systems in hospitals that require constant power, the components of power infrastructure, the personnel responsible for managing them, and how Cummins can assist.
Where Power Matters Most in Hospitals
At any given moment, numerous systems and rooms throughout a hospital require power to support patient care and ongoing operations. The following are examples of critical systems in hospitals that require constant power.
HVAC systems
HVAC systems are critical to infection control, life support, and clinical performance in healthcare facilities. These systems maintain tightly controlled environments in zones such as:
- Operating rooms: Positive pressure and HEPA-filtered air prevent contaminant ingress
- Isolation wards: Negative pressure confines airborne pathogens
- NICUs and burn units: Stable temperature and humidity protect vulnerable patients
Failures can compromise sterility, increase the risk of infection, or endanger patients who are thermally sensitive. That’s why power infrastructure must be designed to handle HVAC startup loads and prioritize essential zones using intelligent automatic transfer switches (ATS) and load-shedding logic.
Operating room equipment
A wide range of equipment for patient monitoring, anesthesia, optical enhancement, surgical automation, and patient positioning are critically involved in operating room functions. These devices demand uninterrupted power during any procedure.
Medical imaging
Modern medical imaging systems, such as CT, MRI, ultrasound, and X-ray machines, are indispensable tools for diagnosis, treatment planning, and surgical guidance. Due to their complexity and sensitivity, these devices demand uninterrupted, high-quality electrical power.
Even brief power disturbances can disrupt imaging workflows, delay urgent diagnostics, and require time-consuming recalibrations. In facilities with integrated PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication Systems), imaging is linked to server uptime and secure data storage.
Backup power systems are crucial for maintaining uninterrupted imaging access during power grid disruptions. As imaging expands into AI-powered diagnostics and real-time surgical navigation, dependable power infrastructure becomes as vital as the equipment itself.
Medical monitoring equipment
ICUs, ORs, and ERs depend on continuous power for real-time monitoring and life support systems. Essential devices such as ECGs, pulse oximeters, and ventilators must maintain constant operation to deliver vital data, sound alarms, and sustain patient life. Even brief power outages can put patients at immediate risk.
Sterilization equipment
Sterilization systems are crucial for preventing infections and ensuring surgical readiness in hospitals. From autoclaves and low-temperature sterilizers to washer disinfectors, these units sanitize surgical instruments, diagnostic devices, and reusable medical tools.
Because sterilization is a time-sensitive, high-temperature, and precise process, it requires stable and continuous power. An outage can disrupt surgical schedules, increase the risk of hospital-acquired infections, and compromise patient safety. Backup power ensures these systems maintain cycles, temperatures, and pressurization without interruption.
Medical records data transmission and servers
Medical services rely intensely on accurate and comprehensive patient treatment and diagnostic records. Servers and networks that handle critical data are designed to be resilient and reliable, ensuring uninterrupted service. This is typically delivered by UPS (uninterruptible power supply) that handles the instantaneous power issue, but these require primary power backup to kick in quickly after an event.
Lighting and alarm systems
Lighting and alarm systems are essential to every hospital function, from surgical precision in operating rooms to patient navigation and emergency alerts. Proper illumination ensures staff effectiveness, while alarms detect fires, changes in oxygen levels, and equipment malfunctions. Without stable power, these life-safety systems risk failure, which can delay responses and endanger lives.
Fire suppression/response systems
During emergencies, automated fire pumps, electrically actuated valves, and alarm systems must activate immediately.
Critical egress areas with restricted access must be unlocked to allow evacuation. Ventilation systems must switch modes to remove smoke and prevent asphyxiation. These components are electrically dependent and highly integrated, meaning that a power loss during a fire can turn a controllable situation into a life-threatening disaster in an instant.
Medical gas storage/distribution
Medical gases, such as oxygen, nitrous oxide, and air, are essential for anesthesia, respiratory support, and a broad range of life-critical procedures.
Gas distribution systems require precise flow regulation, continuous monitoring, and emergency power reserves, as even minor interruptions in supply can be fatal.
Any power disruption can cause serious consequences, from procedure delays to life-threatening events. This underscores the need for constant power and strict control of these systems.
The power team: more than just a generator
Reliable backup power in a hospital doesn’t come from a single machine. It comes from an orchestrated system of technologies that communicate and respond in real-time. Together, these components form the backbone of a resilient power infrastructure:
Generator
Power comes from a generator set, running on diesel or natural gas, which starts automatically to provide emergency power when the utility supply fails. In many healthcare settings, generators are configured for N+1 redundancy, which means there’s at least one backup for the backup, in case the primary unit fails.
The supply is sized to match the hospital’s lifesafety, critical, and equipment power loads with the safety factor applied. Large generator sets, such as Cummins’ Centum Series C1250D6E and C1500D6E, are well-suited for hospitals and are frequently selected to meet the higher power demands of these facilities.
Automatic transfer switch (ATS)
When an outage is detected, the ATS quickly initiates a transfer from utility to generator power. Hospitals often use multiple ATSs across different branches of the essential electrical system (life safety, critical, and equipment), each prioritized based on the functions they support. They must operate with a response time of just a few seconds to prevent equipment failure, data loss, and even single-cycle frequency errors or disruptions. In many healthcare applications, bypass isolation transfer switches, such as the Cummins PowerCommand® B-Series, are used to allow maintenance or testing without interrupting power to critical loads.
Switchgear
Switchgear distributes power between loads, ensuring safe circuit protection, isolation, and load shedding in the event of emergencies. Advanced switchgear solutions can automatically prioritize critical circuits, balancing power allocation between operating rooms, ICUs, HVAC, and IT systems on a predefined hierarchy to maintain essential services even during limited power availability.
Cummins' advanced medium-voltage switchgear has been the preferred choice of hospitals worldwide for decades.
Battery energy storage systems (BESS)
Increasingly, larger healthcare sites are integrating BESS alongside generators. These systems provide instant power while a generator spins up, and they can improve overall power quality by compensating for voltage fluctuations during transitions and grid instability. BESS also reduces emissions and helps facilities meet sustainability goals when paired with renewable energy sources.
Cummins' BESS solutions are designed for superior performance and safety, offering zero-emission redundancy for hospitals.
Controls and monitoring
In hospital systems, generator controls manage the startup, operation, and synchronization of emergency generators during power outages. These controls monitor fuel levels, engine temperature, voltage, and frequency, ensuring the generator activates within seconds of utility failure. Advanced controllers will typically also perform load shedding and remote diagnostics.
System controls, however, supervise the coordination of all power sources, including generators, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), BESS, and automatic transfer switches (ATS). In a hospital system, control oversight prioritizes critical loads such as operating theatres and life-support systems. It manages load sequencing and ensures seamless transitions between utility and backup power.
Centralized monitoring provides real-time visibility and alarms, which are crucial for life-saving rapid responses and patient safety during power disruptions. Customizable paralleling controls, such as Cummins' DMC8000, can control an unlimited number of gensets, utilities, and loads in complex hospital power systems.
The people behind the power
While a Healthcare facility's power system consists of the reliable equipment detailed above, its true strength lies in the people who maintain them. Behind every working system is a team of trained professionals who ensure the power stays on when it's needed most.
From the moment a hospital is built, the facility management staff is responsible for managing its power systems. They are key in keeping the hospital running safely and smoothly, especially during power disruptions. This includes:
- Facility managers, who oversee infrastructure integrity and power system performance
- Facility engineers, who develop contingency plans, monitor diagnostics, and maintain compliance with standards such as NFPA 99 and 110
- Electricians and maintenance staff, who physically inspect, test, and service critical components like ATS units, UPS batteries, switchgear, and generator sets
The vigilance of these teams protects intensive care units, operating rooms, and every environment where patient lives are on the line. Hospitals don’t just rely on power systems. They rely on the people who know them best.
Cummins’ power experts: supporting every step
Due to the complexity of modern power systems, hospitals often don’t manage power reliability independently. They rely on support from expert partners to ensure systems stay reliable and up to date.
When they partner with Cummins, they gain considerably more than just a power backup system. They gain access to a team of experienced professionals who design, install, and maintain power solutions built specifically for healthcare needs.
Real-world support at every phase
Cummins and healthcare providers collaborate in a strong, resilient partnership founded on more than just supplying and installing equipment. It relies on trust, careful planning, and shared responsibility. Hospitals can operate confidently, knowing a reliable and responsive team supports the systems that power life-saving care around the clock.
- Project managers are the backbone of a hospital's power deployment team, for example, at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, a healthcare facility located in the greater Baton Rouge, Louisiana area. Cummins project managers coordinated a complex, multiphase power system upgrade that included multiple generators and switchgear installations, all without interrupting hospital operations. Their involvement ensured compliance with NFPA 99 health care requirements and tailored the installation to the building’s evolving layout.
- When the Red Cross Hospital in Córdoba, Spain, identified the need for a new 220 kVA backup generator, they turned to Cummins to address their supply and integration demands. The disestablishment of the legacy equipment and installation of the new system had to be completed with absolute confidence within 24 hours.
The removal and upgrade to a Cummins C220D5E system was completed with minimal disruption within the 24-hour time allocation. The local Cummins dealer delivered on the high-pressure changeover process and provided ongoing maintenance. This close cooperation among Cummins Power Generation, the local Cummins dealer, and Red Cross Hospital has provided an exemplary model of service provision that serves as a benchmark for the region.
- The AnMed Health Medical Center in Anderson, South Carolina, has a storied, 100-year history. Historical systems could not meet modern expectations in power reliability and ongoing operational costs. A new system was required to meet the facility's elevated power consumption needs, ensure up-to-date power stability, and secure compliance with NEC code regulations.
Cummins Power Generation was selected as the system provider through bidding to provide a fully operational, turnkey emergency power backup system.
Reliable Power with Cummins
In healthcare, power isn’t a convenience. It’s a critical lifeline. You can trust this lifeline with Cummins, a trusted global leader that provides reliable, fully integrated power solutions for hospitals and healthcare facilities. For decades, Cummins has helped protect patient care and support essential services by delivering resilient systems built to meet the unique demands of healthcare.
Cummins’ history in power generation spans over 100 years, with installations in more than 190 countries. A consistent track record in adverse events backs its reputation in the healthcare sector.
Cummins stands out for its high-performance, high-uptime, and fast-response generators, as well as for delivering fully integrated, end-to-end power systems, from design and manufacturing to installation and lifetime support.
Above all, Cummins' long-term commitment to its customers is what sets us apart from the competition. Cummins ensures that every hospital has access to:
- 24/7 emergency support, on call, and fast responding
- Genuine parts and OEM diagnostics
- Software updates and firmware upgrades
- Training for hospital facility teams
- Long-term service agreements with guaranteed uptime metrics
Contact Cummins today to design a resilient power solution tailored to your facility’s needs – and safeguard every moment of care.
Sources:
- https://www.cummins.com/case-studies?application=Healthcare
- https://www.cummins.com/news/2024/08/01/what-are-battery-energy-storage-systems-bess
- https://www.csemag.com/hospital-emergency-power-supply-systems/
- https://trellis.net/article/hospitals-get-green-light-green-backup-power/
- https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatacenter/definition/Automatic-transfer-switch-ATS
- https://assets.rcp.co.nz/files/health-nz-bseg/building-services-engineering-guide---volume-2.2-electrical-services__draft-issue.pdf
- http://www.japan-instrumenti.com/download/Hioki%20Power%20Quality%20primeri.pdf
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/major-issue-modern-healthcare-facilities-john-simon
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