The UK’s first public Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine was administered to 90-year-old Margaret Keenan at University Hospital Coventry, marking the start of a national mass vaccination programme. With hundreds of thousands of doses scheduled for distribution, maintaining strict temperature control and uninterrupted power to critical systems became a matter of national importance.
For more than 12 years, Applied Integration (AI) has worked closely with the hospital to support and maintain critical power infrastructure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AI delivered an upgrade to the hospital’s power management system to ensure resilient and intelligent control of incoming mains supplies and guaranteed power continuity for life-critical services.
The Challenge
The hospital required a robust power management solution capable of protecting essential systems, including intensive care units, neonatal wards, COVID-19 ventilator systems and refrigeration facilities used to store temperature-sensitive vaccines. The upgrade had to be carried out in a fully operational hospital environment under strict pandemic restrictions, with zero tolerance for disruption to patient care.
The Solution
AI upgraded the existing power management system to provide continuous monitoring of incoming electrical supplies and automated control of backup generation. In the event of a mains power fault, the system detects the issue instantly, starts the backup generators and restores power to critical services within seconds.
Once all life-critical systems are fully operational, the system then intelligently prioritises and restores power to non-essential services using the remaining generator capacity. This staged and strategic power recovery ensures that clinical services remain protected at all times while maximising the resilience of the wider hospital infrastructure.
Results and Benefits
The upgraded power management system now provides a highly reliable and intelligent safeguard for the hospital’s most vital operations. It ensures uninterrupted power to vaccine refrigeration, life-support equipment and clinical wards, supporting both patient safety and the success of the national vaccination programme.
Despite the complexity of working in a live hospital during the pandemic, the project was delivered and tested on schedule, reinforcing the hospital’s ability to operate safely under extreme conditions.
Garry Lofthouse, CEO of Applied Integration, commented:
“Upgrading and testing a live, working hospital is extremely demanding, and the added COVID-19 restrictions presented further challenges. The whole team worked above and beyond to get the system installed and tested on time. We are delighted to be able to work alongside Coventry Hospital.”
Conclusion
This project demonstrates how intelligent power management can play a critical role in healthcare resilience. By upgrading the hospital’s power infrastructure during one of the most challenging periods in modern history, Applied Integration helped ensure that life-critical systems and vaccine storage remained protected, supporting both frontline healthcare workers and the national vaccination effort.
Founded in 2005, Applied Integration is a leading systems integrator specialising in Industry 4.0, Digitalisation, IoT, Analytics, Cloud Technologies, Safety Critical Systems (SIL1–SIL3) and Robotics and Collaborative Robots (Cobots), supported by a highly experienced engineering team of over 50 specialists.
