Hospital Floor Renovation

Renovating a floor inside an active hospital is nothing like a typical construction project. Half this floor was torn open for renovation. The other half had patients in beds, nurses at stations, and doctors making rounds. A wall and some plastic sheeting separated those two worlds.

TSS installed about 250 CommScope Systimax Cat6A drops, redundant 24-strand TerraSPEED fiber to the data center, roughly 30 RG6 coax drops to patient room TVs fed by an RG11 backbone, and Windy City Wire composite cable for access control. WAP installation throughout. Every TDR was a full TSS build — racks, ladder rack, cable managers, patch panels, fiber enclosures, all terminations.

Austin Industries managed the construction as GC. TSS was contracted to the hospital customer but coordinated daily with Austin's team. Access was tightly controlled. The hospital PM and Austin determined exactly when and where we could work, which areas were active patient zones, and what containment measures were required at each phase.

Environmental Control Units were mandatory on the construction side. ECUs contain dust and airborne particles that can't be allowed into the patient care areas. That's not optional and it's not a suggestion. Infection control protocols (ICRA) governed everything from how we moved materials through the building to how we managed debris. Every crew member understood that one mistake with containment could affect patients.

About 250 CommScope Systimax Cat6A drops cover this floor — workstations, nurse stations, patient room data and phone jacks, access points, and cameras. Redundant 24-strand TerraSPEED singlemode fiber connects the floor's TDR to the hospital data center. That redundancy means a single fiber path failure doesn't take the floor offline.

RG11 coax backbone feeds roughly 30 RG6 drops to patient room TVs. Patients notice when the TV doesn't work. It's a small detail in the overall scope, but hospitals treat it as a priority. Windy City Wire composite cable handles access control to every secured door on the floor.

The EC installed cable tray on main routes. TSS picked up with Arlington loops where tray stopped. Every cable management component in the TDR was provided and installed by TSS — racks, ladder rack, horizontal managers, vertical managers, Systimax patch panels, fiber enclosures.

The schedule on this project was driven entirely by hospital operations. Austin Industries and the hospital PM controlled access to every section of the floor. Some areas opened up for construction only after patients were relocated. Other areas stayed active throughout the project with patients on the other side of containment barriers.

TSS coordinated with Austin daily. Which rooms are available today. Which hallways can we move materials through. Where are the ECU barriers. When does the next phase release. That level of coordination isn't optional on a hospital renovation — it's how you keep the project moving without disrupting patient care.

Tight schedule discipline was critical. When you get access to a section, you execute your scope immediately because that window might not stay open. We staged materials in advance, pre-cut and pre-labeled cable where possible, and moved quickly when access opened. Wasted access windows mean delayed completion, which means the hospital can't get those beds back into service.

Every Cat6A drop tested with a Fluke DSX-8000 to CommScope Systimax channel specifications. All fiber tested with CertiFiber Pro. The coax drops were tested for signal levels at every TV location. Testing happened in phases as sections of the floor were completed and turned over.

Complete PDF documentation was delivered to the hospital's IT department — test results for every cable, fiber test reports, cable schedules, and as-built drawings. That package also went into the CommScope warranty submission. Phased testing meant the hospital could start bringing sections of the floor online before the entire renovation was complete.

TSS maintained a consistent crew on this floor for the entire renovation. All W2 employees. OSHA trained. Hospital-specific safety orientation completed. Infection control training completed. The lead installer is CommScope Systimax certified.

Hospital renovations demand a crew that understands they're working in a healthcare environment, not just a construction site. Our team respected quiet hours, maintained containment protocols, and communicated with nursing staff when work areas bordered patient care zones. That awareness isn't something you can train in an afternoon — it comes from experience on hospital projects.

CommScope Systimax 25-year extended warranty applies to all structured cabling on this floor. On-site CommScope inspection verified installation quality after completion. The certification package included all Fluke DSX test results, CertiFiber fiber tests, cable schedules, and TDR as-built documentation.

CommScope reviewed the submission and issued the 25-year warranty to the hospital. The warranty covers the installed cabling infrastructure and stays with the building regardless of who manages or maintains it in the future.

ANSI/TIA-568 compliance on all copper and fiber. NEC requirements including firestopping at every rated penetration — visible in the photos as firesleeves around cable bundles passing through rated walls and floors. BICSI best practices for installation methods.

Hospital infection control protocols (ICRA) governed construction containment, debris management, and air quality control. Environmental Control Units maintained negative pressure on the construction side to prevent particle migration into patient areas. OSHA safety requirements applied throughout. CommScope Systimax installation methods on every termination and cable route. NFPA 70 firestopping requirements strictly enforced.