Temporary Oxygen Trailer Sustains Le Bonheur’s Pipe Renovation

Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital located in Memphis, TN is the only comprehensive pediatric hospital in its region, treating more than 500,000 patients a year. Recognized as one of the “Best Children’s Hospitals” by the U.S. News and World Report for 15 years, Le Bonheur is committed to serving patients with expert care to improve childhood health. For more than 40 years, the center has entrusted nexAir with its gas supply, a critical component of its daily operations.

As part of the hospital’s commitment to continuous improvement, it planned to install a state-of-the-art replacement to an existing iMRI machine – a process that entailed building new elevators to accommodate access to the equipment. However, the elevator schematics directly conflicted with the piping for its 9,000-gal oxygen bulk tank that supports the facility. In turn, the oxygen supply would need to be temporarily disconnected and rerouted, requiring careful planning. Le Bonheur turned to its long-time partner nexAir to deliver a safe and dependable solution.

nexAir joined the upgrade initiative in the spring of 2025. The two teams worked diligently to develop an approach that would ensure everyday operations remained uninterrupted. Drawing from previous experience, the nexAir Cryogenics Team advised the use of a temporary EOSC (Emergency Oxygen Supply Connection) with a nexAir owned oxygen trailer. This option was suggested to both maintain patient care and sustain a simple renovation process; thus, the Le Bonheur team opted in.

The redevelopment took place on Saturday, July 19, 2025. To guarantee efficiency and a seamless transition, nexAir’s team stayed on-site through the entire process – 13 continuous hours overseeing the setup of the temporary oxygen supply and monitoring its flow while the internal piping was rerouted for the new elevators. By the next morning, their work was finished. The nexAir team immediately removed the temporary trailer and reconnected the hospital to its main supply, gearing the Le Bonheur team up for the day.

The nexAir Territory Manager expressed, “As Le Bonheur’s industry partner, we strive to deliver excellence for its mission and the children. Knowing how much they pour into their patients every single day, it was paramount to create an environment where the hospital was able to perform their normal operations without anyone knowing any different.”

With two skilled and quality-care focused teams collaborating, the upgrade was a major success. Le Bonheur praised nexAir for delivering a quick solution and also creating cost efficiency. Rather than using a third-party rental which would have cost the hospital thousands of dollars, nexAir keeps trailers on stand-by to provide a reasonable alternative for customers. Due to this service, Le Bonheur maintained its life-saving care to patients without any setbacks.

The Vice President of Corporate Facilities Management Richard Kelley said, “We are grateful for the collaboration and attention to detail by the Le Bonheur facilities team, nexAir, and all our construction partners during this building wide oxygen shutdown. The professionalism and shared understanding of the criticality of this monumental event ensured that we provided safe and continuous care to all the patients we served.”