An effort to make sure their new hospital is energy-efficient paid off Wednesday for Mercy Medical Center.
The Merced Irrigation District, which is providing power to the new hospital on North G Street, presented a check for $119,700 to the hospital for exceeding energy requirements on the new facility.
"Mercy built a hospital that is 13.4 percent more efficient than the state requires," said Kyle Ford of MID. Ford said the state's Title 24 requires buildings to be energy-efficient.
Merced Sun-Star - Miguel Cerano cleans the new Mercy Medical Center's windows on the west side of the building, Wednesday afternoon. The new hospital is scheduled to open for patients on May 2.
Merced Sun-Star - MID board member Dave Long, left, and Chris Dugas, middle, of Catholic Healthcare West, look on as Kyle Ford of MID talks about a check given to Mercy Medical Center for $119,700 on Wednesday.
The hospital, which cost more than $250 million to build, is scheduled to open May 2 for patients. The building is basically completed, and the hospital has been given its final certificate of occupancy from the state.
Ford said some of the ways Mercy made the new hospital energy friendly were by using highly efficient windows, putting motion sensors where they were needed and using dimmers on lights.
"They made a hospital that is energy efficient and also comfortable for patients," Ford said.
Robert McLaughlin, spokesman for Mercy, said the money will stay in town and will be used to buy equipment for the new hospital.
McLaughlin said building an energy-pinching hospital was crucial from the first plans.
"It was important for us to build a building that can be used by the community for decades to come," McLaughlin said. "This building is good for the environment -- plus it will save us money."
Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.
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