Green roof will be soothing to new moms

A green roof will grace the new Anderson Medical Center cardiology building going up at the Boulder Community Hospital Foothills campus in East Boulder.

Native grasses will be planted on top of the 46,000-square-foot, two-story building at 4747 Arapahoe Ave. It’s slated to open in December 2012.

New moms will see all that green in their movie-screen views of the Flatirons out the west windows, rather than gazing out at an industrial-looking roof, said Nick Rehnberg, the architect who came up with the idea. The new building will be situated in front of the existing third-story maternity ward.

The environmentally friendly roof will cost more to build than a typical roof, but it’s projected to save $750,000 per year in cooling costs, Rehnberg said. At that price, the  roof has an expected payback period of seven years, he said.

A planned “penthouse” on the roof will have a double use. It will protect heating and cooling machines and block them from view.

It’s also expected to block the view of planned solar panels from those maternity-ward moms.

Those potential new solar panels are a big “donor opportunity” to Ron Secrist, president of the Boulder Community Hospital Foundation. There’s room on the roof for nine to 30 kilowatts worth of solar panels with an estimated value of $75,000 to $200,000, Secrist said.

While there’s no calculation yet on how much the new panels might save in energy costs, a donation deal with Namaste Solar in Boulder that put panels on the main Foothills building already helps keep the hospital green.

Banks of panels worth about $700,000 when they were installed in 2007 generate about 90,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, said Blake Jones, president of Namaste Solar. The hospital pays a set rate for the electricity based on the amount it would pay for Xcel Energy electricity, Jones said.

After 10 years, Namaste Solar will give the panels to the hospital, Jones said. At that time, it’s estimated that they’ll create $21,000 in savings per year – about $9,000 in energy savings based on today’s prices, and $12,000 in renewable energy credits back from Xcel Energy, Jones said.

If you, or anyone you know, is interested in donating money to pay for the new panels, you can contact Secrist at: rsecrist@bch.org.

A $2 million ‘thank-you’

On a related note, the Anderson Medical Center received a $2 million donation from Boulder resident and Valleylab co-founder Bob Anderson and his wife, Sydney. Electrosurgery device company Valleylab Inc. was founded in 1967 and sold to Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) in 1983 for $125 million.

At a recent groundbreaking ceremony at the hospital, Anderson thanked all of his former employees of Valleylab and asked that they be recognized for their hard work at the company, too.

When it opens, the Anderson Medical Center will be home to cardiology services and outpatient treatment as well as offices for medical practices. Rocky Mountain Cardiology, Alpine Surgical, Alpine Urology, Boulder Neurosurgical and Spine Associates, and doctors Charles Jones and Susan Skaff Hagen all are planned to have offices there. 

The Andersons are no strangers to cardiology services, said Sydney Anderson, who spoke to me at the groundbreaking ceremony. She said when Bob had a cow valve installed in his heart a few years ago, he was taken care of by the good folks at Boulder Community Hospital.

Bar code confirms correct Rx

Longmont United Hospital and Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville now have a high-tech bar code scanning check to make sure patients receive the correct medicine. Avista started using a bar-code system in May 2010; Longmont United started using its system recently.

Boulder Community Hospital plans to implement a similar bar-code system on Feb. 1, according to a hospital pharmacist. Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette plans to implement a bar-code system in mid-2012, according to spokeswoman Mary Jackson.

Nurses at Longmont United and Avista scan bar codes printed both on medications being given and on patient wristbands before administering medicines.

The bar-code system at Avista is good at catching errors on doses, said Nanette Tinker, pharmacy director at Avista. But it cannot catch a mistake if the original medication information is entered into the system incorrectly, she said.

“It’s one step in the process, and it’s a really good step,” Tinker said.

Beth Potter can be reached at 303-630-1944 or via email at bpotter@bcbr.com.

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