PRINEVILLE, OR — Rosendin, an employee-owned electrical contractor with a regional office in Prineville, recently completed a two-year project to upgrade the electrical infrastructure at the St. Charles Health System facility in Bend, Oregon. Skilled tradesmen from the IBEW Local 280 successfully replaced aging equipment that was at risk of failure and relocated the existing electric services for the St. Charles Heart and Lung Center wing to enable future expansion. Despite a number of logistical and resource challenges, Rosendin completed the work on schedule and under budget with zero injuries.

“This project was equally challenging as it was rewarding. Our team took great pride in knowing that all the work and extra effort put in to overcome the challenges we faced would ultimately result in the bettering of our community,” said Dan Ruffoni, Rosendin Senior Project Manager. “A great deal of coordination went into determining the timeframe to change over the power supply, and our success on this project would not have been possible without the great partnership and collaborative efforts from both the St. Charles and Skanska teams.”

St. Charles Health System was originally built in 1974, and replacement parts were no longer available for the primary and emergency switchboards that served the main tower of the facility. Working in alignment with the hospital’s building maintenance team and general contractor, Skanska USA Building, Rosendin installed two new services to a new 3000A switchboard to serve the normal power and a new 1600A switchboard along with a 1000A ATS for the emergency power, while the hospital remained operational.

“This upgrade provides added stability and reliability to our building systems and sets the Bend Campus up for years to come. We are grateful for the success of this project and the teamwork and flexibility demonstrated by Rosendin and Skanska during a challenging cutover schedule,” said Christa Papke, Program Manager - Clinical and Hospital Operations with St. Charles Health Systems. “It is always difficult to interrupt services in an occupied building. In a hospital which runs around the clock, 365 days a year, interruptions must be coordinated and minimized. Rosendin and Skanska supported our hospital operational teams and looked for creative opportunities to minimize disruptions and keep our patients first.”

The hospital provides critical services to the local community, and planning was critical to ensure emergency care could be provided while power was switched to the new system. This impacted the general power and lighting, life safety loads, and loads that impacted the emergency, imaging, and operating room suites. To reduce the impact on staff and patients, Rosendin’s construction teams worked overnight and on weekends to cut power across 19 separate loads of the hospital to re-feed electricity from the new services.

Rosendin mitigated pandemic-related challenges and supply chain issues by taking an early procurement approach, ordering equipment as early as March 2021 and storing it at the company’s Prineville facility and on-site until construction began several months later. They also had to schedule workers around Oregon Health Authority’s mandate requiring everyone on the hospital campus be vaccinated.

“As a local general contractor in Central Oregon for the last 25 years, we are proud of the relationship and quality work that Rosendin provides every day. Rosendin’s commitment to safety, quality, communication, and planning has brought the St. Charles electrical infrastructure project stability and success,” said Jacob Struck, Superintendent for Skanska USA Building. “This new state-of-the-art electrical system will provide care for life for generations to come.”