The story of Southern Ohio Medical Center’s new microgrid and chilled water plant began decades before the first shovel hit the ground. HEAPY has been working with SOMC since 1968. Marv Heapy served as the Engineer of Record for the original Scioto Memorial Hospital. This partnership has continued across generations of campus growth and modernization. While the 2019 CAMP, Campus Asset Management Plan, marked a recent milestone in that ongoing relationship, it was only the latest chapter in a long history of supporting SOMC’s infrastructure. That assessment brought renewed attention to aging systems and fragmented emergency power. HEAPY set the stage for a bold new vision: a fully integrated, resilient energy system capable of supporting the entire campus even during a utility outage.
Aging Infrastructure and Fragmented Systems
SOMC’s campus had long operated with three separate chilled water plants. The A Wing plant, originally built in 1968, remained the oldest and least efficient despite upgrades. The B Wing plant was added in 1997, and the C Wing in 2009. At the same time, the hospital’s emergency power system was split between two unconnected generator systems. The A Wing generators were fully loaded with no room to grow. The E Wing generators were significantly oversized due to an issue during original construction. SOMC had always hoped to find a way to back-feed the rest of the campus from these larger units, but the infrastructure was not in place.
HEAPY’s national engineering and microgrid team helped SOMC reimagine what was possible. During early discussions with SOMC leadership, HEAPY proposed a medium-voltage loop that could unify the campus electrically and enable the movement of emergency power where it was needed most. While the idea was initially set aside due to cost, it became essential when SOMC later discovered that the B Wing chillers were failing. The emergency power challenge resurfaced, and the original loop concept suddenly offered the most resilient and cost-effective path forward.
Creating the Foundation for a Campus Microgrid
By integrating normal and emergency power into a single medium-voltage feed, SOMC could eliminate the need for additional transfer switches. This helped reduce long-term maintenance and enabled power to the entire campus using the existing E Wing generators. This capability forms the foundation of a true islanded microgrid, allowing the hospital to operate normally even without utility power.
SOMC sought a single partner capable of designing, coordinating, and delivering this integrated solution. HEAPY and HEAPY Solutions were selected to lead the project, working alongside DesignGroup, JGA Engineering, and Kleingers. Together, the team designed a new chilled water plant, now under construction near the original A Wing plant. When complete, it will replace both the A Wing and B Wing plants, reducing the campus to two high-performance plants while significantly improving reliability and efficiency.
Future-Ready Infrastructure and Funding Strategy
The emergency power integration is being built with a forward-looking architecture. A loop switch controller will enable SOMC to move emergency power across the campus, and the new medium-voltage distribution will form the backbone of a fully functional microgrid. HEAPY’s project financing team is also supporting IRA funding opportunities to help SOMC maximize the value of its investment.
This project reflects HEAPY’s national leadership in resilient infrastructure and microgrid design. From healthcare campuses to higher education and mission-critical facilities across the country, HEAPY is helping organizations rethink how they generate, distribute, and secure their energy. For SOMC, the outcome will be a campus capable of normal operation even during a utility outage, providing a true point of refuge and resilient healthcare for the region.
To explore how healthcare systems across the country are leveraging microgrids and federal funding to build resilient, future-ready infrastructure, HEAPY shares additional insights here.
Reach out to the experts:
Merritt Roseberry
Senior Construction Project Manager
Associate Principal
mwroseberry@heapysolutions.com
