RSFH to Construct New Data Center
Late last week, North Charleston city administrators and healthcare executives officially broke ground on the Roper St. Francis Healthcare data center. This is only the latest example of the healthcare becoming a more significant factor in the data center industry. The data center is to be constructed on a 24 acre plot of land in the Palmetto Commerce Park. Medical Society of South Carolina Project Chairman, John Holloway, says the data center is to function as a storage facility for the merging of nearly 40 tons of equipment, such as computers and data racks, that are to make electronic communications available to 100 Roper St. Francis Healthcare centers throughout a region encompassing nine counties. “This isn’t just about computer servers and wires, it’s about
computerized physician order entry, decision support systems and coding for the administration of medications,” stated Holloway. The data center will contain about 16,000 square-feet. After the facility is up and running, RSFH’s ability to keep up with its imminent growth in technological needs will have been greatly augmented. The new RSFH data center is to be built to survive Category 5 hurricanes (160 MPH winds) and major earthquakes. RSFH Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Mike Taylor, believes that these features will significantly decrease the risk of a total failure of the data center. RSFH has chosen to sign a contract with Clayco, Inc. for the construction of the data center. In addition to Clayco, RSFH has contracted with 24 other companies from throughout the Charleston region and Carolinas to provide supplementary services, which is a major boon to the local economy. “Palmetto Commerce Park in North Charleston was determined to be the perfect location for this important Roper St. Francis project,” said North Charleston Mayor R. Keith Summey. The RSFH Data Center will most likely be in full operation by next summer. It will employ between 10 and 15 workers who will tend to the servers and server racks.
