Although our Tech Talk Blog typically features stories that describe the installation and use of Unistrut Products, today's post treats an innovative Hilti product we offer to support medical equipment in hospitals and medical settings. Installing a ceiling support grid for medical equipment often requires contractors to work around existing pipes, electrical, and other MEP systems. Although contractors often use red iron structural steel supports to suspend ceiling grids from ceilings in hospital settings, significant cost savings and versatility make the Hilti MI Support System an excellent alternative to traditional construction methods. This system also helps keep hospital construction and upgrade projects on schedule by preventing the need for extra work, such as welding and rerouting of mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems.
Structural steel and red iron supports add to project costs by requiring fabrication time in the shop and in the field. In addition, red iron supports must be custom designed to the unique specifications of each piece of medical equipment that is to be hung or supported.
Because Hilti MI components are modular, they can be pulled from the shelf in stock lengths and installed immediately without welding. They accommodate a wide range of equipment models made by major medical equipment manufacturers, including GE, Toshiba, Siemens and Philips, for operating rooms, CT, x-ray equipment and heart catheterization labs. The Hilti MI system can support even the heaviest types of diagnostic devices, including C arms and heart cath equipment, which can weigh in excess of 3,000 pounds.
When red iron supports are used, equipment models must be selected early in the project design timeline. However, when a Hilti MI grid system is used, project planners have more time to make the final equipment selection. Construction can move forward as hospital administrators make their final equipment specifications.
The complicated overlapping foot prints and bracing involved in multiple red iron supports create numerous obstacles and complex pathways for MEP systems to wind through. Because MEP systems are commonly designed and installed before red iron supports are designed and installed, the MEP systems often must be moved to accommodate them. The Hilti MI medical equipment support structures allow all MEP systems to run through and around the support framing, eliminating the time and expense of relocating plumbing, electrical, and HVAC duct work.
The Hilti MI system can also be designed as a grid system, drastically reducing time when equipment is relocated or changed out, and offers further cost-saving advantages when it’s time to replace equipment with upgraded models. The existing Hilti MI support system can be used or easily modified to accommodate new equipment. In most cases, red iron supports need to be replaced to accommodate new diagnostic equipment. The welding and cutting associated with installation of new red iron supports introduces fumes, dust, debris and airborne contaminants into the environment, requiring hospital administrators to temporarily suspend activity in adjacent operational rooms, which results in lost revenue.
To learn more about the benefits of Hilti MI medical equipment support structures, or to request a quote or installation, contact Unistrut Service Company for more information. We have years of experience installing medical equipment support systems, and welcome the opportunity to discuss your project.