When Walt Vernon, CEO of San Francisco engineering firm Mazzetti Nash Lipsey Burch, toured HSC in early 2010 he noted the deteriorated electrical system. “It was not uncommon to be in the middle of surgery and have someone run in and say the wires outside are on fire and they needed to shut down the generator,” said Tim Traynor, the hospital’s ground construction coordinator. The surge in post-quake demands placed a huge stress on the existing system. When Vernon returned to San Francisco, he mounted a massive campaign to rewire the entire hospital, with donated labor and materials.
Jim Hawk, EVP of Rosendin Electric in San Jose, CA. stepped up to the plate. “As soon as we read about the desperate need for electrical material, we talked with people here at Rosendin and some of our vendors, suppliers and manufacturers, and had an overwhelming positive response,” he said. In less than two weeks, Bill Barnes, Senior Purchasing Agent for Rosendin, assembled over $150,000 worth of materials from 16 vendors for the project. As Barnes said, “It is extraordinary times like these that bring out the best in our industry.”
With materials on route to Haiti, organizers began contacting electricians. In January 2011, 16 volunteer electricians joined Vernon at HSC. Within two weeks, they had rewired the inside of the hospital and another building. An important aspect of the rewire project included training local apprentices from the Milot trade school. “We had great camaraderie” said volunteer Tom Cooper, a Project Manager from Albany, CA. “They were really eager to learn from us.”
Next, Vernon plans to organize another effort to bury the hospital’s power lines. As Traynor explains, “Buried lines are less prone to destruction. More importantly, sometimes local children are paid to cut through the lines to pirate the power, an extremely dangerous practice we want to eliminate.”
