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The 116-bed eldercare facility was destroyed when Katrina's storm surgeoverwhelmed the levees in the city's Ninth Ward. While everyone at St.Margaret's was evacuated safely before the storm, federal disaster officialsdeemed the building unsalvageable after it was flooded and filled withfour-to-six feet of standing water for two weeks.
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St. Margaret's officials immediately began the search for a new home - aprocess that culminates at 10 a.m. (CDT) today with a ribbon-cutting ceremonyat the new temporary facility at 3419 St. Claude Ave.
The building, which formerly housed the Bywater Hospital, requiredextensive renovations to support an eldercare facility. The conversion wascompleted with grant money from the Federal Emergency Management Association(FEMA) and a pivotal team of reconstruction partners, including Trane.
Since 1931, St. Margaret's, a nonprofit facility, has offered affordable,quality nursing care delivered with compassion and personal attention. BeforeKatrina struck, St. Margaret's provided residents with the conveniences ofhome, like a sunroom overlooking a lush garden and family rooms complete withbig-screen TVs.
"Residents and staff are a tight-knit group," said Larry Stansberry, chiefexecutive officer of St. Margaret's. "Those relationships survived the storm.It became my No. 1 priority to get everyone under one roof again after thishorrible tragedy. I consider the residents and staff of St. Margaret's to belike family and I wanted to bring them back home."
Once officials decided upon the former hospital building, they quicklybegan renovations. Partway through the reconstruction process, workersdiscovered a sorely outdated heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC)system that would not meet building requirements. HVAC is the heart of themechanical system in a healthcare facility and is vital to providing residentsand staff with a clean, comfortable environment.
After learning the HVAC system needed replacing, Stansberry approachedTrane with the problem. Trane Rental Services quickly drew up a leaseagreement for the system that would meet the facility's performancerequirements until the permanent facility is complete.
"If not for Trane's generous offer to lease us an HVAC system, I wouldhave needed to start at square one again to find another suitable temporarylocation," said Stansberry. "Thanks to Trane's help, the St. Margaret's familywill be back together once again."
Trane Rental Services provides short- and long-term temporary cooling orheating solutions for emergency and planned situations. Trane's modern fleetof HVAC systems are prepped and ready to ship at a moment's notice tomanufacturing facilities, hospitals, universities, ice rinks, on-locationtelevision shows, tournaments and special engagements.
Trane has worked with health care facilities for more than 40 years,providing a range of systems, services and solutions to optimize healingenvironments, improve patient outcomes, increase comfort levels of staff andpatients, and optimize facility investment. Nearly half of all healthcarefacilities in North America rely on Trane systems for their comfort needs.
Trane, the air conditioning systems and services business of AmericanStandard Companies (NYSE: ASD), is a leading global provider of indoor comfortsystems and comprehensive facility solutions. Its offerings include energyefficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, service and partssupport, advanced building controls and financing solutions. Each Trane systemis designed to meet the specific needs of customers who want heating, cooling,dehumidifying and air cleaning systems f
