Health care facilities planning

Advising and consulting with administrative and health care staff on matters related to the impact of technological developments in health care facility planning... 

KEY POINTS OF INFLUENCE CHECKLIST FOR MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY INPUT INTO THE HEALTH CARE FACILITIES PLANNING PROCESS 38.19... 

Health care facilities planning is a unique area of endeavor. The unique character of this work comes from the fact that the patient and family are silent users of the space represented by all the members of the planning and design team. This responsibility to uphold the future well-being of these patients gives the process an added dimension. 

A second dose of MMR is recommended for adults who 1) have been recently exposed to measles or are in an outbreak setting 2) have been previously vaccinated with killed measles vaccine 3) have been vaccinated with an unknown type of measles vaccine during 1963-1967 4) are students in postsecondary educational institutions 5) work in a health-care facility or 6) plan to travel internationally. 

Disaster planning must include a community mutual aid plan in the event that the hospital (s), nursing home(s), or other residential health care facility needs to be evacuated. Plans for evacuation of health care facilities must be realistic and achievable, and contain sufficient specific detail as to where patients will be relocated to and who will be there to care for them. Patient evacuation was a major challenge to disaster response efforts following Hurricane Katrina, and was hampered by the destruction of all major transportation routes in and out of the city. Pre-planning for the possibility of the need to evacuate entire health care facilities must address alternative modes of transportation and include adequate security measures (see Figure 1.4). 

These sites are updated on an ongoing basis to ensure that health care practitioners have access to the most current recommendations. Information is available related to national, state, and local level strategies and plans. The CDC includes information specific to health care facilities as well as legal and planning issues. The information is formatted for easy download via PDF files. The sites also include links to related resources. 

Environments All settings Licensed health care facilities, licensed clinics, providers who contract with licensed health care service plans Pharmacies Acute care settings, private mental health institutions All settings All settings Institutional settings in outpatient settings, specific signed protocols required for each patient... 

MacIntyre, A.G., Christopher, G.W., Eitzen, Jr, E., Gum, R., Weir, S., DeAtley, C., Tonat, K., and Barbera, J. A., 2000. Weapons of mass destruction events with contaminated casualties effective planning for health care facilities, JAMA, 283(2), pp. 242-249. 

The business of health care facility design is all about the future. We cannot plan well simply to correct today s facility shortcomings. In dealing with the future of health care, the future of technology is critical. 

Dr. Billings was right, and today we continue to follow his advice when developing facility plans for health care facilities. 

The key to successhilly mobilizing a health facility planning effort lies in the strength of the work of a team of professionals. Designing a health care facility is a complex task. The team needed to carry out this task is large and multidisciplined. 

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