When a steam boiler goes down at Olympic Medical Center (OMC) in Port Angeles, facilities staff have about an hour to fix it before patient care starts being affected. Without steam, the hospital can’t properly heat the building, sterilize instruments, wash bedding, or control humidity levels critical for infection prevention.
Steve Merkel, executive director of service engineering, and Jason Francis, supervisor of plant operations, only have an hour to fix the problem before patient care is impacted.
“If you’re thinking of the hospital as a body, it’s like losing your heart,” said Steve Merkel, facilities director.
Thanks to a $1 million Energy Retrofits Program grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce that OMC matched with its own funds, it replaced its old boilers with new ones. Hospital staff say the new boilers will help ensure reliable operations for decades while reducing maintenance demands and improving efficiency.
“Ultimately, this is going to set this facility up to be reliable for the next generation,” said Merkel.
Facilities staff at Olympic Medical Center stand beside the hospital’s new boiler system. From left: Andrea Macfeat, project manager; Steve Merkel, facilities director; Jason Francis, plant operations manager; and Rob Gale, manager of construction services.
Commerce’s Energy Retrofits grant program helps public facilities modernize aging equipment, lower energy use, reduce emissions, and improve long-term operational reliability. In January 2025, Commerce awarded $14.3 million in energy retrofit grants to reduce emissions and enhance the operating efficiency in public buildings and facilities.
A tale of two failing boilers
Olympic Medical Center’s two boilers were 50 years old and had been breaking down more often. In 2020, one of them had a major failure, and it took a year to fix. While it was unusable, they brought in a propane-powered mobile boiler that cost more than $250,000 to rent and run, in addition to the $120,000 it cost to repair the old boiler.
In 2025, an arc flash event caused another major boiler failure. This is a dangerous, high-energy electrical explosion caused by a fault where current jumps through the air between conductors.
“I was putting $20,000 a year into each boiler, into repairs, just to maintain them,” said Merkel.
Plant operations manager Jason Francis points to an arc flash that caused a major failure in 2025.
For a rural hospital that serves as a critical healthcare hub for the Olympic Peninsula, the boiler upgrade is about more than infrastructure. It’s about ensuring patients continue receiving care without interruption.
Jason Francis stands in front of one of the hospital’s former 50-year-old boilers.
Learn more about Commerce’s Energy Retrofits for Public Buildings Program.