|
|
Britton said plans call for the data center to be fully operational in August.
It will serve more than 300 hospitals, doctors' offices and other Mercy facilities in four states. Washington was chosen from more than 20 sites that were considered.
Selection of Washington was based on access to alternate sources of power and water, distance from earthquake fault lines, bedrock and proximity to other Mercy operations.
There will be seven high-tech employees on each shift, plus other support workers. The Center will operate 24/7.
Only Look
"Take a good look at it today and take as many photos as you want because this will be your only look," Showalter said. Security will be tight since the center will house patients' and doctors' records and other Mercy system data.
The building was designed with "fail-safe features" to withstand a variety of natural events, power or water interruptions, and even failures within the building.
It also has been built to hospital construction code specifications. It can withstand an F2 tornado with 113 to 157 mph winds and is earthquake braced throughout.
Every component of the Center's support operations (water, cooling and network connectivity) has a backup. The Center can run on backup generator power for 72 hours without electric power and without additional fuel to power the huge generators.
The Center has more than 2 million feet, nearly 400 miles, of fiber optic cable that is used to carry data throughout the Center-enough to reach from St. Louis to Milwaukee.
The facility is rated as a Tier 3 data center and it's "green."
"There are a couple or handful of Tier 3 data centers in the state, none in health care," Showalter said. He added that the Washington facility was built for the future. "A future that will require technology to provide only the best to those entrusted to our care," he added.
