UCI Health — Irvine: The journey to all-electric
Leader shares successes, lessons learned
IN THE NEWS: UCI Health — Irvine, opening in December, and the UCI Health Rehabilitation Hospital, scheduled to open in summer 2026, are leading a local healthcare boom. Both facilities were recently featured in the Irvine Standard.
Joe Brothman, director of facilities and general services with UCI Health, spoke with the Irvine Standard about UCI Health — Irvine and the journey to it becoming the nation’s first all-electric acute care hospital.
“Hospitals use a lot of energy, and they’re around for as long as 100 years. This was a very important decision. We all thought it was doable for the UCI Health — Irvine hospital, and we had the ambition to proceed.”
He also spoke about how the hospital’s power structure, which helps to improve local air quality by reducing pollution related to the burning of fossil fuels, benefits the overall health of the community.
“We take very seriously the idea of a mission of healthcare without harm so that we do our jobs without causing negative impacts to our community.”
The energy system in the hospital features pumps to heat and cool both water and interiors, as well as a diesel-powered generator designed to provide emergency power to the entire campus for more than 96 hours. Some energy will come from solar panels, while the remainder will come from providers of 100% renewable power.
About UCI Health
UCI Health, one of California’s largest academic health systems, is the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. The 1,317-bed system comprises its main campus UCI Medical Center, its flagship hospital in Orange, Calif., the UCI Health — Irvine medical campus, four hospitals and affiliated physicians of the UCI Health Community Network in Orange and Los Angeles counties and a network of ambulatory care centers across the region. UCI Medical Center provides tertiary and quaternary care and is home to the only Orange County-based National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program and American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, gold level 1 geriatric emergency department and regional burn center. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter).