Midwest Transplant Network Designs New Donor Recovery Unit from Conception to Construction with ASC BIM Library

In November 2020, Midwest Transplant Network’s headquarters in Westwood, Kansas began major mechanical renovations and minor additions to create a new Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit. The Midwest Transplant Network is a non-profit organization that provides services for organ donation and procurement in Kansas and parts of Missouri. This new Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit is an onsite recovery facility for organ and tissue donors, reducing the reliance on local hospital resources and ensuring donors receive highly specialized care.

Making renovations to an active hospital is challenging and requires careful coordination in the best of times. During a global pandemic, the challenge is exponentially greater. The crew needed products that could deliver fast, met the required specifications, and install quickly and safely – that’s where ASC Engineered Solutions came in.

ASC Engineered Solutions distributor MKS Pipe and Valve worked with Rand Construction to supply ASC Engineered Solutions Gruvlok® grooved couplings and fittings for the Recovery Center’s piping system.

MKS Pipe and Valve celebrated their 75^th anniversary in 2021 and are a long-time ASC Engineered Solutions (formerly Anvil International) distributor. “We’ve been working with ASC for about 30 years,” said Kevin Aylward, Sales Manager, MKS Pipe and Valve. He continued, “Partnering with them is always a great experience; they’re one of our biggest and best vendors. What really makes [ASC] stand out is the large breadth of their product offering, great customer service, and quality products with dependable deliveries.”

MKS quoted the job for Gruvlok products, ensuring that they met the required specifications for mechanical couplings, achieved savings compared to competitive brands, and were able to meet the requested delivery timeline. MKS knew that Gruvlok products were the best choice for the job, and Rand agreed. Gruvlok ductile iron couplings and cast fittings, and carbon steel schedule 40 fabricated fittings were selected for the Donor Recovery Center project. Another key selection criteria that helped secure Gruvlok as the build choice was ASC’s extensive BIM catalog. All Gruvlok products can be used in digital design projects; ASC provides Gruvlok BIM content in multiple file formats and design program compatibility, including Revit®.

MKS delivered the complete order on time, in one shipment, boxed and tagged to indicate what materials were enclosed – which was quite the feat during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being produced in ASC’s domestic manufacturing locations helped prevent the prevalent delays in production and shipping happening throughout 2020 and 2021.

“Some of the major equipment, such as the chiller, was already manufactured and shipped with grooved connections. That made it an obvious choice to utilize Gruvlok. Gruvlok products were also very helpful in some of the more restricted areas and/or where welding was not an option or permitted. We were confident the products would work when we incorporated them into our preliminary planning, layout, design, and fabrication. All of the data needed to make an educated decision was readily and promptly available so that’s clearly why we chose Gruvlok.” says Fred Thorpe, VP, Rand Construction. He continued, “By utilizing Gruvlok products, we were also able to install products made right here, at home in the USA. MKS and ASC Engineered Solutions were excellent strategic partners on the MTN project.”

Fred cites the excellent cooperation between Rand, MKS Pipe and Valve – located very close to Midwest Transplant Network’s campus – their sales rep, Kevin, and ASC Engineered Solutions as a key factor of this project’s success.

The Midwest Transplant Network Donor Care and Surgical Recovery Unit is expected to begin taking patients in late spring or early summer of 2022.