Novant Health

Wishing upon a starJohn Millard shares with Jenn Monroe Novant HealthÔÇÖs strategy to reach maximum energy efficiency. Three years ago Novant Health set its sights on the stars. Actually, the goal is to reach just oneÔÇöthe Energy Star rating. ÔÇ£We want to be in the top 25 percent in our industry,ÔÇØ says John Millard, director of energy and environmental affairs. ÔÇ£For our hospitals, itÔÇÖs a standard weÔÇÖre putting out there.ÔÇØ But attaining the Energy Star rating is just one piece of a two-pronged initiative. Novant also has created an Environmental Responsibility Statement, which is focused on the three RsÔÇöreduce, reuse, recycleÔÇöand overall sustainability. ÔÇ£It says that weÔÇÖll meet the needs of the community without impact,ÔÇØ Millard explains. ÔÇ£We see it as parallel to our mission of sustaining the health of the community.ÔÇØNovant Health is a not-for-profit, integrated healthcare system in western North Carolina that serves more than 3.5 million people in 34 counties reaching from southern Virginia to northern South Carolina. Novant was formed in July 1997 by the merger of Carolina Medicorp of Winston-Salem and Presbyterian Health Services of Charlotte. Thomasville Medical Center joined the system in 1997, Brunswick Community Hospital in 2006, and Rowan Regional Medical Center in 2008.Millard is responsible for setting and evaluating energy policy and procedures for the entire Novant system, but heÔÇÖs much more than the typical corporate executive. HeÔÇÖs the bridge between operations and construction when it comes to energy efficiency. ÔÇ£Our mission is to improve the health of our community one person at a time,ÔÇØ Millard says, ÔÇ£and having environmentally stable facilities can help.ÔÇØCurrently Novant Health operates more than 200 facilities and employs more than 22,000 people. For the past three years the organization has been benchmarking its existing facilities and educating its staff about its Energy Star goals. ÔÇ£None of our current facilities are Energy Star rated at the moment,ÔÇØ Millard says, ÔÇ£but some are close.ÔÇØMillard publishes ÔÇ£tipsÔÇØ in the employee newsletter to help staff learn about NovantÔÇÖs efforts. For example, the organization changed from incandescent to fluorescent bulbs to save energy, and it recycles those old bulbs in its own recycling center, even though local landfills will accept them. ÔÇ£This is visible evidence of the program and the environmental responsibility statement being implemented,ÔÇØ he says.New construction projectsÔÇöNovant is working on three new hospitals at the momentÔÇöare designed with the Energy Star goals, as well as lessons learned from a recently completed hospital, in mind. ÔÇ£Our construction focus is to build things right,ÔÇØ Millard says. ÔÇ£The three hospitals under construction now will meet Energy Star requirements. ThatÔÇÖs our goal, and weÔÇÖre willing to spend money to reach that goal. In the long run weÔÇÖll get our investment back.ÔÇØWhen Novant Health opened Presbyterian Hospital on its Huntersville, North Carolina, campus in the fall of 2004, all involved thought it was a great facility. Millard benchmarked the hospitalÔÇÖs energy use after six months, but when he reviewed it after a year, the results were not what he had expected. ÔÇ£It was one of our worst in terms of energy efficiency,ÔÇØ he says. Because Novant had hired the same engineering firm and general contractor to do the next three hospitals, Millard knew he had to have a discussion with both of them. ÔÇ£I said I didnÔÇÖt want to build three more energy-inefficient hospitals,ÔÇØ he says. To his surprise, the engineer, McCracken & Lopez, P.A., agreed and offered to do a retro-commission of the Huntersville hospital at its own cost. Novant and McCracken & Lopez conducted a six-month study to discover what went wrong. What they learned was that it was a little of a number of things. ÔÇ£There was some cutting of corners because of budget, and the regulators made us change some things,ÔÇØ Millard says. ÔÇ£A lot of it was not capital but things just not put in right.ÔÇØ Since the study, the Huntersville hospital was upgraded, and Millard says he has seen a dramatic increase in its Energy Star score. When it was time to talk about the three hospitals currently under construction, Millard decided to bring everyone together up front. ÔÇ£Even in the infancy of design we had four groups sitting at the table to talk about what didnÔÇÖt work before,ÔÇØ he says. ÔÇ£It was a much more collaborative process. Everybody had something to bring to the discussion. WeÔÇÖre working as business partners. WeÔÇÖre looking for long-term relationships here.ÔÇØAll three hospitals, which are all scheduled to open in the spring of 2010, are based on the Huntersville hospitalÔÇÖs design to allow for consistency in the ÔÇ£lookÔÇØ of NovantÔÇÖs facilities. Millard says he believes that hiring the same team to build all of them will result in a better product, better results and greater cost control. ÔÇ£Having built this once, they have an idea of what it takes,ÔÇØ he says.One of the new hospitals is located in North CarolinaÔÇÖs Brunswick County and will be a 100-bed replacement hospital for Brunswick Community Hospital. The other two, one located in Kernersville and the other just east of the city of Charlotte, are 50-bed community hospitals. NovantÔÇÖs goal is to locate a number of services within smaller communities so they only need travel to its larger, regional hospitals for more complex treatment and procedures.One of the largest benefits to building all three hospitals together is the ability for Novant Health to bundle capital items such as boilers and information technology services. ÔÇ£For big-ticket items, we feel we can bundle them,ÔÇØ Millard says. This approach is part of NovantÔÇÖs strategy of looking at the total cost of ownership when making purchasing decisions. ÔÇ£To make our facilities Energy Star compliant, we had to add equipment,ÔÇØ Millard says, ÔÇ£and we donÔÇÖt always look at the cheapest equipment. We look for the best value.ÔÇ£WeÔÇÖre not asking to spend money that doesnÔÇÖt bring obvious patient value,ÔÇØ he continues. ÔÇ£Energy efficiency is behind the scenes. But it could be something that improves air quality, and thatÔÇÖs good for patients.ÔÇØ┬á