The Hidden Energy Story Behind “The Pitt”
Earlier this year, the new season of The Pitt dropped, and with it comes the enjoyment of millions of viewers around the world who are getting a fresh look at a show inspired by the real-life work of America’s doctors and nurses. In the real-world versions of The Pitt, natural gas plays a major role in supporting the steady, day-to-day operations that help hospitals deliver lifesaving care.
***Warning: spoilers for both seasons of The Pitt below.***
The plot of The Pitt offers a powerful, real-world use case for why natural gas backup generation is so critical for hospitals across America. In the latest season, chaos erupts when a nearby hospital is forced into an emergency shutdown, triggering a wave of diverted ambulances and critically ill patients to flood the Pitt’s already stretched emergency department. Doctors scramble, hallways fill, and staff race to stabilize patients – all while trying to understand what went wrong next door. Among the suspected causes: a sudden loss of power.
Scenes like this may make for compelling television, but in real life, hospitals cannot afford that kind of uncertainty. That’s why many invest in behind-the-meter natural gas generation to ensure uninterrupted access to reliable fuel.
With an extremely high level of service reliability for natural gas customers – only 1 in 628 customers are expected to experience a planned or unplanned natural gas outage in a given year. This reliability means that hospitals using natural gas for backup generation can be confident they’ll retain access to fuel, even during major storms and other disasters when their services are needed most. Natural gas-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) systems can be a literal lifesaver, helping keep critical equipment running and essential services online and avoiding scenes like the ones depicted in recent episodes.
The benefits hospitals get from natural gas go beyond backup and emergency operations. One running gag from the first season of the show involves student doctor Whitaker (nickname “Huckleberry”) having to change his scrubs every 15 minutes. It’s a funny bit, but in real emergency departments, staff do go through uniforms at a remarkable pace. Hospitals consequently do laundry in industrial quantities. Reliable, cost-effective hot water and drying are standing between the real Whitakers of the world and an empty scrubs machine. The immense cost savings natural gas provides can be significant over time, helping to prevent higher prices for patients. Natural gas is 3.5 times more affordable than electricity and expected to remain significantly less for at least the next 30 years. Natural gas also helps manage costs across the rest of a hospital campus. U.S. hospitals have enormous square footage, with major heating and hot water needs around the clock. When energy overhead is lower, hospitals have more flexibility to invest in staff, equipment and patient care.
The Pitt Crew, much like real ER doctors and nurses, spends their shifts fighting to save lives, and getting the “occasional miracle” against all odds. Both are aided by numerous advanced technological innovations and almost miraculous pharmaceuticals. Natural gas underpins large parts of America’s pharmaceutical supply chain, providing energy for manufacturing and contributing to the production of materials used for packaging and safe distribution. From production at scale to the logistics that get medicines where they need to go, natural gas helps keep the system running and enables doctors to provide the highest standard of care.
Natural gas may not be front-and-center in The Pitt, but in real hospitals across America, it’s an indispensable ally for the healthcare professionals who work every day to save lives and serve their communities.