Emergency Heat for VA Medical Center

Heat is of critical importance in hospitals and especially, as explained below, the VA (Veterans Affairs) hospitals that serve our nation's veterans. Maintaining appropriate temperatures within a hospital is essential to providing a safe and comfortable environment for patients, staff, and visitors.

Heat and our veterans

Many of our veterans may have unique health needs related to their military service. For example, some veterans may have injuries or medical conditions that require them to stay warm or avoid extreme temperatures. In addition, many veterans may have mobility issues that make it difficult for them to regulate their body temperature.

Furthermore, maintaining a consistent temperature in VA hospitals is important for the functioning of medical equipment, such as refrigerators for storing medications and diagnostic equipment. Temperature fluctuations can compromise the effectiveness of these critical tools and put patients' health at risk.

In extreme cases, a lack of heat in a hospital could even become a matter of life and death, particularly for patients who are already in a weakened state due to illness or injury. Therefore, ensuring reliable heating systems and protocols for temperature control is of the utmost importance in VA hospitals to protect the health and well-being of our veterans.

New Hampshire VA Faces Water Line Break

Failing heating systems, water leaks, and other disruptive events are a reality, especially in the winter season. Ensuring our veterans remain unaffected is a major concern and priority for hospital leadership.

That is why when a water line supplying a New Hampshire VA Medical Center boiler froze in sub-zero temperatures in February of 2023, an Aulson representative servicing the hospital jumped into action and called Polygon. The break meant that water could not reach the boiler system and as a result stopped working. Of highest concern was a wing on the second floor where Alzheimer’s and Dementia patients receive long-term nursing care. Due to the sensitive nature of their care, disrupting their schedules or moving them was a last resort, particularly at dinner and bedtime.

A Speedy Temporary Heating Solve

At around 1 pm that Saturday, hospital representatives called Polygon for support.  They needed a backup heating solution so patients could spend the night in their rooms and be transported to another location at a better time the next day.

Quickly, calls were made among the Polygon Team who decide and coordinated the best equipment solution based on need and available power sources. Operations technicians left their homes and tested equipment at our Massachusetts facility. Ensuring the functionality of the equipment was critical since it was stored outside in -20 deg weather.

Polygon delivered a solve to the hospital within less than 2.5 hours of the original call.  In cooperation with teammates from the Aulson Company, Polygon ran ducts to the second floor and adjusted settings to ideal temperatures, making the space comfortable and safe for the patients inside.  Aulson Company is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business and has been a contract holder with the VA New England Healthcare System since around 2018. They oversaw the emergency heat plan for the hospital and share the following with our team:

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to you and your staff for the exemplary effort and resulting successful outcome during the recent heat emergency at the VA Medical Center. Not only did you provide the temporary heat that was so desperately needed to prevent total disruption and discomfort of the hospital patients, but you did so at a significantly reduced rate for the VA. On behalf of the VA, the patients, and The Aulson Company, we are very grateful for your extraordinary contributions and look forward to working with you again soon.

- Alan P. Aulson, Sr., Owner & President, The Aulson Company, Inc.

In the end, the security and service were well-appreciated, and Polygon is humbled to receive this feedback from the hospital. It is responses like these that make us proud to be Polygon. Thank you Aulson and VA for trusting us.

To get to know the Polygon representative in your region, contact us at 1-800- 422-6379 or ask for an introduction at www.polygongroup.us/contact-us