Healthcare facilities need to provide a sufficient number of parking spaces for patients, staff, service traffic, and the public. At a minimum, parking standards or requirements developed by local authorities having jurisdiction should be consulted since these will reflect the availability of public transportation, public parking facilities, or other alternatives. This article provides some general rules-of-thumb for estimating the number of parking spaces for patients being admitted/discharged, visitors to inpatient nursing units, hospital staff, outpatients, and emergency patients and their escorts.
Facility Components
You can search for all articles related to a specific clinical service or major facility component.
Assessing the Capacity of Major Clinical Services
Healthcare organizations vary significantly in the number of expensive procedure rooms and equipment units that they use to accommodate similar numbers of annual procedures. This is why it is important to look at the current capacity prior to deciding to expand the number of procedure rooms and related support space, particularly those clinical services that use expensive equipment and uniquely-designed procedure rooms.
Understanding the Impact of USP 800 on Pharmacies
Research studies over the past several decades have indicated the possible harmful effects on healthcare workers from low-level work-related exposure to any of more than 200 medications that are considered hazardous drugs. As a result, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) — a nonprofit compendium of drug information — published the nation’s first standards on the handling of hazardous drugs from receipt to disposal. Chapter 800, titled “Hazardous Drugs — Handling in Healthcare Settings,” applies to all healthcare personnel who handle hazardous drug preparations and all entities that store, prepare, transport, or administer hazardous drugs, such as pharmacies, hospitals, clinics, and physician offices. Hazardous drugs include those used for cancer chemotherapy, antiviral drugs, hormones, and some bioengineered drugs. Effective December 1, 2019, most pharmacies need to comply with USP 800.
Rethinking Parking Lots and Structures
When it comes to parking, hospitals seem to never have enough. At the same time, customers ― whether patients, staff, or visitors ― always want to park as close as possible to the their designated entrance. Because easy and convenient access is a prime indicator of hospital customer satisfaction, U.S. hospitals are rethinking the expansive asphalt parking lot and dreary concrete parking structure. Innovations in design, technology, and financing, along with careful planning, can mitigate shortages and improve customer convenience. Now with a global pandemic, parking lots and structures are also being called into action as part of an organization’s emergency response strategy.
Space for Technology/Communications Equipment
Hospitals and healthcare facilities must ensure a robust, reliable telecommunications network to support every form of communication. Key spaces include a technology equipment room, a telecommunications entrance facility, and distributed telecommunications rooms.
Estimating the Space Required for Central Sterile Processing
Estimating the size of a central sterile processing department based on the number of beds can be unreliable due to the wide variation in the scope of surgical, obstetrical, interventional, and ambulatory care services at any given hospital that are the primary users. However, many hospitals require only a basic instrument processing function with two steam sterilizers and one gas sterilizer. A third steam sterilizer may be provided at institutions with high-volume surgical and obstetrical services. The following guidelines can be used to develop a preliminary “order of magnitude” space estimate for a central sterile processing department. The lower range would be used for a central sterile processing function that is contiguous with the surgical suite. The higher range would accommodate a case cart system, the storage of hospital-wide patient equipment, and additional specialized sterilization equipment.
- Minimal department with two steam sterilizers — 2,000 to 3,200 DGSF (185.8 to 297.3 DGSM)
- Average department with two steam sterilizers and one gas sterilizers — 3,200 to 4,500 DGSF (297.3 to 418.1 DGSM)
- Large department with three steam sterilizers and one gas sterilizers — 4,500 to 5,500 DGSF (418.1 to 511.0 DGSM)
Note: Department gross square feet/meters (DGSF/DGSM) represents the footprint of a department or functional component and includes the net area of the individual rooms as well as the space occupied by internal circulation corridors, walls/partitions, and minor utility shafts. More detailed information can be found in the SpaceMed Guide.