Manchester VA Medical Center is on all-season ‘hot standby’

Entering the boiler plant, the humming of mechanical equipment is surprisingly a soothing sound, and the heat encompasses the air in a distinct contrast from the frigid temperatures in New Hampshire during the winter months. The team of boiler plant operators accept the challenges Mother Nature and Murphy’s Law direct their way to keep patients warm and hot water available throughout the facility.

“Our boiler plant operators are seasoned with experience,” said Eugene Moser, boiler plant supervisor. “Many of them served their country performing these duties while in the military and brought their expertise here. Their talent encompasses high-pressure boilers and plant equipment, including boiler water and chemistry, as well as auxiliary equipment.”

Navy Veteran David Petersen, one of five boiler plant operators at the medical facility, maintains and troubleshoots the complex boiler system during his 12-hour shifts and has done so for the past ten years. “One of the really good things about working here, and I’d say this agency as a whole, is that the top priority is safety,” said Petersen.

The main level of the boiler plant consists of three steam-operated boilers. The second level of the plant houses the deaerator and condensate tanks which are the first two-processes in preparing treated water to the boilers. The intricate and detail-oriented process for continuing operations in the plant goes well beyond the stereotypical ‘open and shut’ valves we see in the movies.

“Time after time their analytical, math, and technical skills have kept the plant operating safely and hazard free,” stated Moser.

“We have a plan,” added Peterson. “We’ve got redundancies built into the system.”

The project to modernize the boiler systems was completed in December 2019, featuring enhanced electrical monitoring and performance enabling a 40-year lifespan for the upgraded boiler system. The plan included redundancy heating to be in place in the event a boiler encountered a disruption in service.

Boiler Plant Operator and Army Veteran Dennis Aldrich said, “We keep our boilers on ‘hot standby’ 24/7, 365 days a year and whenever we have a power outage or if something goes wrong with one of the boilers, we have another boiler that is backup.”

Aldrich explained while one boiler is the main heating source, another boiler is pre-heated and ready to move from 67 pounds per square inch (PSI) to 85 PSI within minutes to keep the facility operating. Through a small glass window located at the back of the boiler, the flames of fire heating the steam is an impressive sight.

“We are the nucleus of the hospital; we keep everything running,” noted Aldrich. “We heat the Vets up and cool them down. We supply hot water for the hospital and sterilization, and a lot of people don’t know that.”

The critical process of medical equipment sterilization is paramount to operations, and the boiler plant operators take pride in safeguarding Veteran patients and staff as part of their mission.

“I like our mission here, it means something to me,” shared Petersen. “I am not interacting with Veterans on a day-to-day basis, but I like to know that what I do here, which is keep all this stuff running, it does have an impact even though it’s not something you usually think about.”

“All my operators communicate well no matter what the situation is,” stated Moser. This is crucial to plant operations in keeping the plant safe for all operators and personnel at this facility.”

Moser is honored to work alongside the boiler plant operators and appreciates their commitment to customer service, dedication to the mission, and teamwork across their footprint within the Manchester VAMC.

“I like how friendly everybody is and how we work as a team. It is the best job that I have ever had, and I like serving the Veterans and that is the reason why I like being here,” said Aldrich.

“One analogy I like to use for the boiler operators is like we are all umpires at a baseball game,” shared Petersen. “If you are good at your job nobody ever hears about you, you just fade into the background; but when things go bad then everybody starts to know your name … being able to blend into that background and provide service for our Vets—that’s a good place for me to be.”

Lori Flynn, Public Affairs Officer

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