Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Health Care Facilities

Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities
by the Facilities Guidelines Institute, the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health, and with assistance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Softbound, Size 8.5" x 10.5"
ISBN 157165013X
9781571650139
American Institute of Architects / Facility Guidelines Institute
August 2006
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JCAHO, many federal agencies, and authorities in 42 states use the Guidelines either as a code or a reference standard when reviewing, approving, and financing plans; surveying, licensing, certifying, or accrediting completed facilities; or developing their own codes.

This 2006 book is the current version used by healthcare authorities. For 60 years, the Guidelines have set minimum standards for American health care facility design. These performance-oriented requirements give health care providers and design professionals guidance on good practice and emerging trends. This newest edition of the Guidelines:

reorganizes and renumbers content according to facility type,
standardizes language use and information categories, and
introduces color to help users quickly find the information they need.

This book is read and relied upon by healthcare executives, administrators, facilities and space planners, architects, designers, builders, safety directors, risk managers, maintenance directors and others needing an understanding or reference regarding construction and design guidelines.

The Guidelines are updated on a four-year cycle by the 124-member, multidisciplinary Health Guidelines Revision Committee (HGRC). Individuals knowledgeable about health care practices and health facility design (doctors, nurses, facility managers, architects, and engineers) and those who apply the document in the field (state and federal authorities having jurisdiction, or AHJs) serve on the committee. (AHJs reviewing and approving plans and construction for health facilities are often architects or engineers.) Highlights that you need to be aware of include:

Strengthened information on the Infection Control Risk Assessment process
New appendix language on green architecture and surge capacity in emergency departments
New chapters on urgent care facilities, gastrointestinal endoscopy facilities, psychiatric outpatient centers, renal dialysis centers, office surgical facilities, and small primary care hospitals
New language on assisted living facilities, hospice facilities, and adult day health care facilities
Private rooms for acute medical/surgical and postpartum patients in new hospital construction
New sections on intermediate care units, observation units in emergency departments, and skilled nursing units in general hospitals

Please note: The next updated edition is scheduled to be published no earlier than 2010 or 2011. We will list it here when it becomes available. Until then, this 2006 edition represents the current, approved guidelines in use.

Responding to public input, the multidisciplinary Health Guidelines Revision Committee of the Facility Guidelines Institute made significant content changes, including these updates:

General (applicable to all health care facilities)
- Expansion of the environment of care chapter, including detailed functional program requirements and an appendix on green design
- New material on infection control risk assessments (ICRAs) and infection control risk mitigation recommendations
- Common requirements for all health care facility types
Hospitals
- Single-bed rooms as the minimum standard for typical nursing units in general hospitals
- Revised bed clearances and new bedside documentation areas in critical care units
- New sections on intermediate care units in general hospitals, observation units in emergency departments, freestanding emergency facilities, and in-hospital skilled nursing units
- Revised text for decontamination areas and appendix language on surge capacity in emergency departments
- Revised section on in-hospital psychiatric nursing units
- New chapter on small inpatient primary care hospitals
Ambulatory Care Facilities
- A chapter of common elements for outpatient facilities
- Revised chapters on freestanding surgical facilities, birthing centers, and primary care outpatient facilities
- New chapters on urgent care facilities, office surgical facilities, gastrointestinal endoscopy facilities, renal dialysis centers, and psychiatric outpatient centers
Other Health Care Facilities
- Revised chapter on nursing facilities
- Completely new chapters on assisted living, hospice, and adult day health care facilities

The Health Guidelines Revision Committee (HGRC) is a consensus group of architects, engineers, and health care professionals, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects. The Guidelines are updated about every four years to six years to keep pace with new concepts and capabilities in the delivery of health care. Public proposals for change are reviewed by the multidisciplinary AIA Health Guidelines Revision Committee, which represents architectural, engineering, clinical, and administrative expertise from the public and private sectors.

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