Healthcare Trained Electricians in Montana: Encore Electric

Encore Electric Brings Healthcare Training to Montana Teammates

June 1, 2026 – Bozeman, MT — Encore Electric builds complex and challenging projects, including state-of-the-art healthcare facilities, which follow a different set of electrical code standards and use a different set of terminology than other types of construction projects. To ensure healthcare facilities are built to support the needs of patients, staff, and the community – even during an emergency – Encore Electric offers a certification and training program that teaches electricians healthcare facility construction. The Encore Electric healthcare facilities training and certification program recently held a training session in Montana, and teammates attended the class on their own time to become a healthcare trained electrician.

“Our people live here in Montana. Their kids go to school here, they visit the doctor, and they want to make sure these facilities are a reliable and technologically advanced part of this community,” said Bill Frye, the director of Montana construction. “We, as Encore Electric, can help healthcare facilities in Montana and be a valued partner to them.”

“I always try to tell people in class to remember when you’re at an existing hospital, the folks around you are likely experiencing one of the most stressful times of their life,” said Brian Kleingarn, Encore Electric superintendent who teaches a portion of the healthcare training program. “The rewarding thing about working on a hospital is knowing that the work you do today is going to better someone else’s life in the future.”

Encore Electric has been offering the healthcare facility training and certification program for over a decade, which covers Infectious Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) procedures and techniques – including best practices for minimal-dust installation – along with emergency essential electrical systems found in these facilities. Once an electrician completes the training program, they become a healthcare-trained electrician. Once an electrician has 2,000 hours on a healthcare facility construction site, they become healthcare certified. Currently, Encore Electric has 111 healthcare trained electricians and 167 that are healthcare certified. Encore Electric healthcare trained and certified electricians can be identified on a project site by their hardhat sticker that states whether they are trained or certified.

“When you go to a project and you see leader after leader with the healthcare certified sticker, I think it speaks volumes to both our general contractor partners and the owner, that these people have been on these projects for a long time and they know healthcare,” said Jeffrey Engelstad, director of Engineering Services who teaches a portion of the healthcare training program. “It’s usually a two-day, four-hours-each-day curriculum all about electrical construction for healthcare, so when our electricians go to a healthcare project, they already know the codes and the language.”

Encore Electric healthcare trained electrician

An important term in healthcare construction is “defend-in-place,” which is a safety strategy implemented to protect patients and staff during emergencies likes fires, when evacuation may be unsafe or impractical. To ensure a hospital is able to defend-in-place, facilities are divided into compartments, so smoke and fire can be contained within the area of origin. From an electrical standpoint, essential power systems must remain continuously available and safe, even during emergencies, because patients depend on it for care. To ensure power is reliable during an emergency, healthcare facilities are built to a high standard for reliability. They are required to have emergency power sources, coordinated breakers and protective devices, multiple power distribution branches to each patient care space, effective redundant grounding, and safeguards against electrical shock and faults.

Credit: Caleb Kach

“The program emphasizes the importance of considering multiple groups that are impacted by safety on a healthcare construction project. You have Encore team’s safety, and then you add in hospital staff safety, the public, and most importantly, the patient’s safety as they are the ones who likely can’t save themselves during an emergency,” Kleingarn said.

When completing electrical work in a healthcare facility, the Encore Electric team uses different wiring methods, specific cabling, and has to ensure there is reliable essential power at all times that is well grounded. By following the best practices outlined in the healthcare section of the National Electrical Code and the Health Care Facilities Code, Encore Electric electricians bring power to patient rooms, operation rooms, and other vital healthcare spaces ensuring critical patient care can take place regardless of utility loss or building emergency.

Credit: Caleb Kach

Another essential term in healthcare construction is “incapable of self-preservation,” which means in an emergency, a patient may be unable to respond on their own.

“If I leaned against a piece of metal that had a little voltage on it, and it shocked me, I would get off of it,’” Engelstad said. “In a hospital bed, you might not be in any condition to move and therefore might be shocked until it creates real damage.”

Defend-in-place and incapable of self-preservation are critical healthcare facility construction terms that must be followed to ensure patients, staff, and the community are safe.

“I think the students walk out realizing just how complex some of the work is that Encore Electric does and how much behind the scenes planning takes place before our execution of the plan,” Kleingarn said.

“There’s something special about being a part of building the healthcare facilities in your community. The work has purpose. It is a wonderful way for us to be part of the communities we live and work in while we use our expertise as a complex electrical contractor,” Engelstad said.

Encore Electric has been offering the healthcare facility training and certification program for over a decade

A variety of Encore Electric teammates attended the healthcare training class in Montana, including field leadership, account managers, and service technicians. The Encore Electric healthcare program is held multiple times a year to meet the needs of our projects.

“Our people came in on their own time to receive this training to help not only them, but Encore Electric as a whole as we strengthen the services we offer to healthcare facilities throughout the state of Montana,” said Frye.