Powered for Patients is excited to be partnering with the California Society for Healthcare Engineering (CSHE) in co-hosting an Expert’s Panel Webinar on the risks posed by seriously outdated hospital emergency power systems and mitigation strategies to address this risk.
The Expert’s Panel Webinar will take place on Thursday, December 4, 2025 from 10 am to 2 pm EST. P4P Founder and Project Director Eric Cote will moderate the panel, which will include the following experts on emergency power resilience for hospitals:
- Robert Solomon, P.E., Chief Development Officer, Boston office of SOCOTEC
- Sal Martorana, Founder & President, Global Power Group
- Steve Works, Blanchard Caterpillar, Electric Power Generation Expert
- Brandon Morales, Service Manager, Collicutt Energy Services
- David Lockhart, CHFM, CEM, CRL, FASHE, Executive Director for Facilities Operations and Maintenance, National Shared Service Operations, Kaiser Permanente
- Joe Brothman, Director of General Services, UCI Medical Center
- Narsimha Irrinki, MS, PE, CHFM, CPE, Enterprise Director of Facilities, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare
- Skip Gregory, AIA, NCARB, President, Health Facility Consulting, LLC
Individuals can register to attend the webinar through this link. The panel is a key part of P4P’s work to sound the alarm about outdated hospital emergency power systems, which P4P discovered after conducting a census of the emergency power systems in 80 LA County hospitals. The census was conducted as part of the emergency power resilience initiative launched by the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency for which P4P project director Eric Cote served as the project consultant.
The census captured data on 271 generators and revealed an alarming number of seriously outdated generators, including units in excess of 40, 50 and even 60 years of age, some of which were in single generator hospitals. (Skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) were not included in the census, but anecdotal evidence suggests that a significant number of SNFs in LA County also rely on outdated generators.) EMS Agency officials were alarmed by the hospital census findings and enlisted Cote’s help to develop a series of new protocols to address these vulnerabilities. The Expert’s Panel is being underwritten in part with funding from Global Power Group, Collicutt Energy Services and Blanchard Caterpillar.
In addition to convening the Expert’s Panel, P4P has developed a number of resources to help local jurisdiction mitigate the risks posed by outdated emergency power systems.
December 4, 2025 Experts Panel Agenda
10 am to 2:00 pm EST
Part I – Noon to 2:10 pm
I. Panelist Introductions
II. Overview of LA County EMS Agency Project & Census Findings
· Outdated generators
· Lack of redundant emergency power
· Limited onsite fuel storage capacity
· Lack of air conditioning connectivity to emergency power
III. Deadly Lessons from Hurricanes that Shape Today’s Emergency Power Requirements for Hospitals and Nursing Homes
IV. Current federal and state emergency power requirements for hospitals and skilled nursing facilities (CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule, Additional Florida and California Requirements for SNFs)
V. How emergency power system components age differently and become obsolete faster due to technology advances, i.e., generators, ATS units, switchgear, PLCs, etc.
VI. How fault detection and diagnostic (FDD) systems are being used as a force multiplier to alert facilities staff to emergency power threats
VII. Hospital Decision Making on Replacing Aging EPSS Components
VIII. Hospital and SNF emergency power failures & lessons learned, with discussion on the importance of fuel polishing
IX. 1st Q&A Session with Attendees
10 Minute Break
Part II – 2:10 pm to 4:00 pm
X. Mitigation strategies to reduce risk posed by outdated emergency power system components
XI. How best to modernize? Potential impediments and technology considerations; New approaches (fuel cell, microgrid with solar and/or battery storage vs diesel/natural gas generators).
XII. What is the right approach to emergency power system maintenance? A look at Preventive Maintenance vs Condition Based Maintenance
XIII. What steps should public health officials and emergency managers take based on LA County findings?
XIV. Final Q&A Session with Attendees
XV. Wrap Up & Recommendations
Potential Outcomes of Expert’s Panel
- Recommended updates to NFPA 110 to include increased testing requirements for emergency power system components that reach a certain age. (This could mirror NFPA 25’s enhanced testing requirement for Quick Response (QR) Sprinklers that reach 20 years of age and Standard Response Sprinklers that reach 50 years of age.) Under this approach, ATS units and switchgear may face enhanced testing at an earlier age than generators.
- Recommended modification of NFPA 110’s annunciator panel requirement to mandate that any single generator facility with emergency power system components above a certain age include an external party among those receiving automated notifications when an emergency power failure is reported through the annunciator panel.
- Consideration by CMS leaders of updates to the CMS Emergency Preparedness Rule to address the risk posed by outdated emergency power system components. This could be achieved by adopting any updates that may be proposed to NFPA 110 or through direct revisions to the Emergency Preparedness Rule.
- Stepped up efforts by HHS and states to quantify emergency power system age in hospitals across the U.S., a move that would likely uncover results similar to those found in LA County, underscoring the urgency of modernizing America’s emergency power fleet.
- Increased focus on the risk posed by outdated emergency power system by the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Energy, agencies with responsibilities for advancing emergency power resilience across all critical infrastructure sectors. This could spur additional federal action to address the threat.
- Increased focus on alternative technologies to diesel powered emergency power systems
For additional information about the Expert’s Panel, please contact P4P project director Eric Cote at cote@poweredforpatients.org.