The opening in March 2015 of the new Mercy Hospital Joplin marked an important milestone in the recovery of a community that was devastated by a powerful tornado in 2011. The Springfield, Mo., office of InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance member C&C Group participated in this recovery as the contractor selected to provide, program and commission the CCTV and access control systems within the new hospital facility. C&C Group is a leading facility services provider in the Midwest with headquarters in the Lenexa Kan., and a longtime member of InsideIQ, an international alliance of independent building automation contractors.

The new 900,000-square foot, $465 million, state-of-the-art facility replaces the former St. John’s Regional Medical Center, which was reduced to a shell after the EF-5 tornado hit Joplin. Following the disaster, there were 161 fatalities, more than 1,000 injuries and damages totaling an estimated $2.8 billion in the southwestern Mo. community. Restoring the hospital as quickly as possible was a priority of the Mercy health system, which committed to rebuilding soon after the tornado disaster.

For its part of the reconstruction effort, C&C Group provided more than 400 IP cameras, access control for almost 700 doors, numerous panic buttons, elevator controls, integration with the hospital’s newborn baby monitoring system and 200tb video storage with failover onto six servers. Other features of the system include a video wall in the security command center, a photo badging station and additional CCTV monitoring stations. There are even biometric iris readers to control access to critical areas within the 286 bed hospital.

“The greatest challenge for us in completing this project was the aggressive timeline for opening the new hospital in the spring of this year,” said Tim Marshment, vice president and general manager, C&C Group. “But we understood what this new facility meant to the community and how important it was to have a new hospital available to serve the healthcare needs of Joplin residents, so we were glad to press forward and meet the deadline.”

Paul Strohm, president of the InsideIQ Building Automation Alliance, added, “InsideIQ member firms like C&C Group are experts at applying the latest technology for access control, security or building automation in a variety of facilities, from commercial offices to schools to hospitals. Our firms are also locally owned, independent businesses that are part of our communities, so our people understand that some facilities are more than just buildings. Mercy Hospital is an important part of the Joplin community offering critical services and we are proud to have contributed to the success of the recovery of the hospital and the town of Joplin.”