• Posted: April 22, 2020
• better construction, Gus Berthold Electric Company, McCormick Place, Rod Berthold

As the COVID-19 outbreak spread across the country in March, it became increasingly clear that Illinois’ hospitals would not be capable of sustaining a major influx of patients. To ensure Illinois hospitals had enough beds for those infected with COVID-19, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker ordered parts of McCormick Place to be turned into a mobile health care center capable of housing 3,000 beds (since scaled back) designated for patients with mild symptoms who would not require intensive care.

Within days of the governor’s announcement, the Army Corps of Engineers, along with local building trades that included Powering Chicago members, began to construct the temporary hospital setup. The logistics and coordination between trades had to come together quickly but to ensure potential patients received the care they need, each hospital room that was constructed would need power running to it. But as construction went on, it became clear that the panelboards that distribute power to various sections of the McCormick Place floor wouldn’t be ready in time.

“In this case, our customer, Advance Electrical Supply, was supplying panelboards for the COVID-19 hospital at McCormick,” said Rod Berthold, President of Gus Berthold Electric Company. “What happened was they were ordering from a national manufacturer and three of them were not readily available. When they tried to get them, they couldn’t in time.”

Berthold’s company, which was started in 1925, was able to provide Advance Electrical Supply with three panelboards within three days, something the national manufacturers were unable to do because of lead times and scheduling conflicts.

These panelboards are like the circuit breaker panels in residential homes, except much larger. In your home you typically have your panelboard in the wall; these boards stand six feet high and are two feet wide. These specific boards distributed up to 400 amps of power.

Gus Berthold Electric employs nearly 30 employees divided between IBEW Local 134 electricians, Smart Local 73 members, and office personnel. Berthold said his company typically needs two to three weeks to get the materials and produce a panelboard but was able to adjust schedules to ensure the order was delivered on time because of the importance and urgency the project had.

“It’s exciting and most of all it’s satisfying to work on this project,” Berthold explained. “It’s nice to be a part of Chicago’s crucial infrastructure and know that we were building for a hospital that was designed to treat COVID-19 patients.”

“Our electricians take the board and mount it at the facility,” said Ryan Madiar, a business representative at IBEW Local 134 who oversees manufacturing jobs where electricians work. “We pull in the pipes, tie everything together, and ensure it’s ready to go. These panels provide temporary power for all circuits for whatever portion is needed. This could power hospital beds, ventilators, or individual rooms.”

Without Berthold’s company and the experienced union electricians, the work at McCormick Place was in jeopardy of being pushed back days or weeks before adequate power could be distributed by the panelboards. This timely work ensured the project could go on as planned and could ultimately help front-line health care workers if McCormick Place is used as a treatment facility. The work of Berthold’s company and the experienced IBEW Local 134 electricians is another example of Powering Chicago’s commitment to better construction and better communities.