News & Insights
VIDEO: Connecticut Children’s expansion builds flexibility and resiliency
Behind the scenes: designing resilience for pediatric care
Connecticut Children’s was outgrowing its existing facility, with critical systems operating at—or beyond—capacity and limited redundancy to support future clinical expansion. The vision for the new eight-story patient tower was clear: expand access to specialized pediatric care while creating a healing, family-centered environment built for reliability, resilience, and long-term adaptability.
Salas O’Brien provided integrated mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, medical gas, and technology engineering design for the hospital’s new patient tower—the only hospital in Connecticut dedicated exclusively to children. From the outset, the focus was on uninterrupted care. Power, air, and life-safety systems were designed with full redundancy, ensuring that the failure of any single component would not impact patient care.
The project includes a new low-temperature hot water boiler plant, a chiller plant with year-round heat recovery, dual utility power feeds with double-ended switchgear, N+1 emergency generation, and new medical gas systems capable of supporting surge ventilator demand during pandemic operations. Custom air-handling systems were designed to maintain infection control and operational continuity, including acuity-adaptable rooms that convert to 100% exhaust during airborne events.
Delivered through a highly collaborative, design-assist approach, the project reflects Salas O’Brien’s commitment to partnership, technical excellence, and engineering systems that put children—and their care—first.
Interested in how we can help you with an existing healthcare facility? Reach out to one of our contributors below or reach out to [email protected].
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Jeff Cichonski
Jeff Cichonski is a principal and mechanical engineer with over 25 years of design and management experience. His focus on building long-term relationships by being responsive to our clients’ needs is demonstrated in his execution of both design and project management.
Jeff brings a vital understanding of building systems to his work as Salas O’Brien, in particular for healthcare facilities, universities, and manufacturing facilities. His experience ranges from hospital expansions and renovations to infrastructure upgrade projects.
Jim Norton
Jim is a Senior Vice President and Healthcare leader at BVH Integrated Services, a Salas O’Brien Company. Jim graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute back in 2006, and has been with BVH ever since. Jim currently oversees an MEP studio of 16 design professionals and primarily focuses on healthcare. He has experience with master planning, new construction, and complex renovations over the course of his career.
Gregory Brousseau
Gregory Brousseau is a Project Manager and Senior Mechanical Engineer with over 13 years of experience, particularly in the healthcare market. He is responsible for the design of mechanical systems from conceptual design through project closeout. Greg specializes in healthcare design and plays an integral role in master planning.
Bryan West
Bryan West is a Project Manager and Senior Electrical Engineer with over 35 years of electrical engineering design experience. His portfolio includes healthcare and facility master plans and infrastructure upgrade projects throughout the Northeast. He specializes in the design of healthcare electrical systems, including infrastructure assessments and planning, as well as power and critical systems for normal and essential distribution.
Nicole Parker
Nicole Parker is a Project Manager and Senior Plumbing, Fire Protection, and Medical Gas Engineer with over 29 years of engineering experience. She is a Certified Plumbing Designer, Certified Fire Protection Specialist, LEED Green Associate, and an ASSE 6060 Certified Medical Gas Designer. With a focus on plumbing/fire protection design, her experience includes many healthcare projects throughout the Northeast, including facility master plans and infrastructure upgrade projects.