By Chris Cutcliff, Contributing Writer

Emergency rooms cannot close for construction. Ambulance routes cannot be rerouted. Patient drop-offs happen every hour of every day. It is no surprise that hospitals and other healthcare facilities are confronting a growing infrastructure problem: how to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations without disrupting operations. 

The challenge is urgent. Nearly 27 million electric vehicles are expected on American roads by 2030, according to a report by PwC, a research and professional services firm, requiring charging stations to increase nearly tenfold, from roughly 4 million today to 35 million. 

Hospitals need this infrastructure for staff, visitors and increasingly, their own fleets. But installing charging stations at a 24-hour healthcare campus is nothing like doing the same work at a traditional office park or shopping mall. When deploying EV charging infrastructure, not every installer thinks about what these environments actually require. 

Unlike contractors who work standard business hours, prioritizing convenience for the patients, staff and emergency services must drive every decision. That makes the stakes fundamentally different and much higher. 

The real question is not whether to install charging infrastructure — the organization eventually will have to — but how to do it without disrupting patient care 

EV installation methods 

Healthcare facilities operate at completely different risk levels than other facilities. A shopping mall construction delay leads to unhappy customers, but hospital construction errors create delays in emergency responses or even losses of power that put patient care at risk. 

The EV charging infrastructure construction process at healthcare facilities runs into problems that standard projects never see. Medical equipment pulls huge electrical loads. Infection control rules are strict. Patients flow through the facility constantly. Emergency vehicles need clear access. Facilities managers also are juggling healthcare codes, electrical standards and accessibility requirements all at once. 

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Balancing location and access 

The most important decision in this process is determining where to put the chargers. Get this wrong, and everything that follows gets harder. 

Emergency department access cannot be compromised. EV charger locations have to keep ambulance routes clear, even during installation. Patient drop-off zones need the same protection because many patients have mobility issues and need direct access to accessible entrances. Visitor parking looks like an easy answer until the realization that hospitals get slammed with unpredictable surges during emergencies. 

What works at an office park can quickly become a problem at a hospital. The U.S. Access Board's design recommendations help with this decision, but so does working with a seasoned end-to-end design and deployment team. These standards guide where chargers end up and how to stage construction to keep accessible parking and routes open throughout the project. ADA compliance does not pause for construction, which means constantly thinking about work zone sequencing and temporary paths. 

Ensuring operations during installation 

Eventually, all this planning turns into steel and concrete in the parking lot. Trenching and equipment create unavoidable disruptions. Matchin the schedule to the hospital's rhythms is essential. 

If it is necessary to take down electrical panels that power non-critical systems like parking lot lights, outlets and signage, managers can bring in temporary lighting first. When trenching is necessary, managers can work around the hospital’s schedule and lay metal plates so traffic keeps moving. 

Despite what contractors or local electricians might think, signage matters. Hospital visitors are already anxious and lost. Construction makes it worse, so managers can have crews put up extra wayfinding that meets accessibility requirements. Clear paths to parking, entrances and alternative routes need to be obvious, not an afterthought. 

Handling electrical demands 

Hospitals run incredibly tight on electrical capacity. Life support, imaging equipment, surgical suites and data centers already push system limits before the addition of EV chargers.  

If the project calls for installing a new electrical panel and the circuitry handles life support or patient-critical systems, it is critical to time that work with the facility's monthly generator testing. The backup generator covers critical power, so it is important to not ask the hospital to run extra tests or risk interruptions to patient care. 

Most older healthcare campuses already are pushing their utility service limits due to expanding building footprints. Adding EV charging can require substation work or transformer upgrades, which involves months or even years of utility coordination and potentially substantial costs. Many facilities managers discover too late that their utility connection cannot handle the additional load, triggering service entrance modifications that add months to timelines and tens of thousands to budgets. 

Getting utilities involved early is critical. Their make-ready programs can offset upgrade costs, but managers need to apply months or years ahead. Those who skip this step are looking at delays and expensive redesigns. 

Chris Cutcliff is vice president of operations at Chateau Energy Solutions.