P1 Group Creates Comprehensive Customer Solutions, One Trade at a Time

P1 Group Brings Single-Source Advantage to University of Kansas Health System

“Success favors the prepared.” This famous philosophy from biologist Louis Pasteur is the reason P1 Group has all trades, including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and technologies, working to create single-source solutions for The University of Kansas Health System (TUKHS).

P1 Group’s Facility Maintenance Operations (FMO) division has been building a partnership with TUKHS since 1999. Over time, in addition to full-time facility maintenance, P1 Group has also provided our construction services, including mechanical, HVAC, sheet metal, plumbing, and low voltage, along with service and preventative maintenance.

According to Vice President Dave Beebe, having full-time facility maintenance experts on site has led to additional opportunities for P1 to bring more capabilities to the table.

And P1 Group’s preparedness to not only provide multiple trades, but also provide innovative solutions to meet various challenges, has led to an even more robust partnership between P1 and the many TUKHS facilities.

A few recent examples include mechanical and electrical construction, electrical preventative maintenance, and technologies.

Project Manager Eric Affolter says P1 Group’s plumbing division has been working directly with the hospital since 2019 to identify and replace existing cast iron waste pipe with more efficient PVC pipe.

In 2019, P1 was asked to step in and supplement an electrical contractor at TUKHS who had fallen behind on a fire alarm project. General Foreman Harold Green and Project Manager Alex VanLeeuwen got the project back on track and completed in the timeline required.

“Our team performed great under pressure,” Operations Manager Rick Drake said. “Everyone was very happy with the work P1 Group completed in a short period of time.”

This success led to P1 winning the much larger Cambridge Tower project with JE Dunn Construction, with a contract value of $6.9 million. The scope of work includes tenant fit-out of the 8, 9, & 10th floors, and major mechanical and electrical modifications to the 12th floor mechanical equipment.

P1 Group was also awarded the low-voltage package for the Tower, which will include Commscope Systimax Structured cabling; expansion of the Axis/ Milestone CCTV system; C Cure Access Control performed with Siemens; extension of Vocia Paging system; nurse-call system with Hill Rom; and lighting control integrated with P1 Electrical.

P1 Group provides Building Technologies and MAC services (moves, adds, and changes) work to three TUKHS departments: TUKHS Healthcare Information and Technology Services; TUKHS Security Department; and TUKHS Facilities. The systems provided include (but are not limited to) structured cabling, paging intercom system, CATV, nurse call, access control, and maintenance of the surveillance CCTV system.

Building Technologies Senior Project Manager Jeff Dallas says part of P1 Group’s continued success in obtaining technologies work is due to the longstanding trusted relationship between TUKHS and Building Technologies Lead Foreman Mike Gordy.

“Our Lead Foreman Mike Gordy has worked on the TUKHS main campus performing these services for more than 10 years,” Jeff said. “He has anywhere from two to four technicians performing service on a daily basis, with additional techs performing low voltage construction services.”

“Mike is the face of P1 for the low-voltage service. They all know him well and feel comfortable with the work his team does.”

On the Electrical Preventative Maintenance (EPM) side, P1 Group came up with a safer solution to maintenance on the hospital’s 5k switchgear. EPM Manager Jeff Gardner explains that the work has historically been performed by another EPM contractor. When that contractor was no longer working out, P1 was the first call, and the team was able to step in on short notice.

“The previous contractor opened and racked out the 13.8kv feeder breaker on energized bus, which is a tremendously dangerous process,” Jeff said.

Within minutes of walking the project, lead EPM technician Clint Hines devised a new switching procedure that eliminated the dangerous need to rack in/out on hot 13.8kv bus.

“The critical takeaway here is that Clint dramatically improved the safety of the project by eliminating the greatest hazard, while also reducing the hospital’s risk exposure,” Jeff noted.

Jeff says P1 Group has been selected to perform several larger EPM projects in the near future.

P1 Group’s strong relationship with TUKHS extends to the general contractors we work with there as well. P1 was recently awarded phases 1 and 2 of the Bell Café Renovation project - a renovation of the cashier (‘point of sale’) area of the café, often referred to as the “grab and go”.

“P1 landed this project due to our strong relationship with Turner Construction at TUKHS,” Project Manager Brady Kyle explained. “This is the same story for the phase 2 portion of the project that we will be starting in a few weeks.”

The project employs all trades. P1 is performing the mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and low voltage scopes on both phases.

Brady says the scope included demolition of no-longer-needed existing plumbing piping in the area and the demolition of existing dual duct box an associated pneumatic controls tubing, which was replaced with a new VAV box with electric controls. P1 also replaced existing grilles and diffusers.

“With the extensive opportunities across TUKHS facilities, it’s critical to keep the momentum going,” Dave Beebe noted.

That’s why P1 Group put Sales Manager Joe Chabot in place as a full-time account manager dedicated to the multiple TUKHS facilities.

Joe works on-site at TUKHS, providing ongoing support and paving the way for P1 Group to address more opportunities as they arise.

Joe spends time working with TUKHS project managers on all P1 Group provided services, as well as property managers at the various TUKHS locations, to assess needs and partner with the University of Kansas Health System to see how P1 Group can step in to fill them.

“We haven’t historically had as much electrical work here, but we’re starting to close that gap,” Joe said.

As P1 Group continues work with TUKHS, Joe says both parties will see advantages, including faster response time, savings on price, and above all, a solid, trusted partnership.