MHA Society for Health Care Engineers & Facility Managers

Hospital Construction Methods Lower Costs, Raise Benefits

Advances in design and building methods such as integrated project delivery, information modeling, and tilt-up construction, are enabling delivery of high-quality facilities faster, and at a lower cost. Read more here.

ICC, ASHE to develop code changes for hospital, outpatient facilities

In collaboration with the American Hospital Association's American Society for Healthcare Engineering, the International Code Council has launched a committee to improve, simplify and reduce redundancy in building codes for hospital and ambulatory care facilities. Among other goals, the ad hoc committee will work to reduce conflicts caused by overlapping local and federal building and fire code requirements, and confusion between the multiple authorities responsible for code enforcement.

ASHE Deputy Director Douglas Erickson said AHA and ASHE members "are committed to providing safe and efficient health care facilities. Our members dedicate countless financial and human resources to assure fire and building codes and standards are continuously met in our facilities, and this effort will strive to streamline the process. Every dollar a hospital spends on redundant codes is a dollar that is drawn away from direct patient care."

HFM, ASHE issue 2011 hospital building report

America's hospitals and health systems are focusing more on renovation or expansion than new construction, according to a new survey by the American Hospital Association's Health Facilities Management magazine and American Society for Healthcare Engineering. Just over one in four respondents had building projects underway, of which 73% involved renovation or expansion.

Many of the additions or modernization projects were for emergency departments, imaging, surgery areas or cancer centers. Hospitals also are improving their infrastructure to better serve patients and support IT use, and focused on making their building projects environmentally friendly, the survey found.

A complete report on the survey findings, including data on financing methods for construction, building types, quality and safety features, can be found in the February issue of Health Facilities Management.