By Dan Hounsell, Senior Editor

Not every day or every decade, for that matter, does a facilities team have an opportunity to set a standard. But that scenario is playing out at UCI Health in Irvine, California, where the facilities team is overseeing the operations of the nation’s first all-electric acute-care hospital. 

“Our team is really excited to take on this task and this challenge and do something that’s new, cutting edge and from our standpoint better for the industry as a whole because it minimizes the impact to our community,” says Joe Brothman, director of facilities and general services for UCI Health. The concept of healthcare without harm is first and foremost in all the areas I oversee. My team was really excited to be part of this.” 

The $1.2 billion, 144-bed facility, UCI Health-Irvine, is designed to provide state-of-the-art patient care while working toward the University of California (UC) system’s goal of reducing 90 percent of its total carbon emissions by 2045. Among the features of the new hospital are these: 

• patient rooms that are 250 square feet on average, which is larger than standard hospital rooms 
• natural light, artwork emphasizing natural landscapes, outdoor terraces and gardens with native plants 
• one of the nation’s first all-electric kitchens to serve a hospital 
• sustainable furnishings and furniture free of harmful chemicals, vapors or materials. 

“I’m very fortunate to be in this situation, and I’m very grateful that our leadership has this aspiration and ambition to move forward with a project like this,” Brothman says. “They’re in charge of everything that we make operational. Even though we might provide input as to what we think might be best, it ultimately was the decision of our leadership team to do this project.” 

The new hospital comes with a higher price tag, but Brothman says the project fits the organization’s goals. 

“It was really a crossing of the lines with a lot of technology advances, our location and the ambitions of our leadership team to make this happen,” Brothman says. “I just feel grateful to be part of this project. I’m extremely excited to see that data come in and provide insights to other partners that might have questions or might have aspirations to do something similar. The opportunity to be part of something new has my entire team very excited to have our hands on this.” 

For the full article on the role of the facilities team in the design and operations of UCI Health-Irvine, check out the April 2026 issue of Building Operating Management magazine. 

Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.