Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities: 2006 Edition The 2006 edition of the Guidelines has just been released. This new edition has the potential to significantly affect licensed healthcare providers as the states enact the new Guidelines. All healthcare facilities, in general, licensed by a state must follow the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities published by the Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Previous editions for the Guidelines are the regulatory baseline for healthcare construction and renovations in more than 40 states. Information in the new addition has been completely reorganized. The content is now arranged in four parts that group similar facilities together. Part One includes information applicable to all facility types. Part Two is dedicated to hospitals. Part Three contains the chapters on ambulatory care facilities and Part Four comprises "other" health care facilities including nursing, hospice, assisted living, and adult day health facilities. Also, the new guidelines include an entirely new numbering system. Specific changes in the content of the Guidelines are evident throughout the document. A significantly expanded Environment of Care Chapter is included (Chapter 1.2, formerly Chapter 2). According to the Guidelines, the goal of this chapter is to, "identify the overall components and specific elements that directly affect the experience of participants in the healthcare delivery system." Chapter 1.5, formerly Chapters 5 and 6, covers planning, design, construction, and post-construction considerations, including strengthened information relating to the Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) and a revised section on infection control risk mitigation recommendations. A new Chapter 1.6 has been included to address common requirements among all health care facility types, which is referenced by the other chapters throughout the book. In Part Two, a new chapter is included on small inpatient primary care hospitals. According to the Guidelines, this section was added to address smaller facilities constructed in rural or inner city communities that typically service smaller populations. Of course, the most widely discussed change in the Guidelines deals with the requirement for single-bed rooms in medical/surgical (including post-partum) units. Approval of a multi-bed project is still permitted in renovation projects that previously had multi-bed arrangements and in new projects where the facility's functional program demonstrates its necessity. There are also new or significantly revised sections on Intermediate Care Units, In-Hospital Psychiatric Nursing Units, In-Hospital Skilled Nursing Units, decontamination areas in emergency departments, free-standing emergency facilities, new language on ventilation for airborne infection isolation rooms and protective environment rooms, freestanding urgent care facilities (distinguished as those facilities "providing basic care for non-emergency conditions on a less-than-24-hour-per-day schedule", outpatient surgical facilities, office surgical facilities, gastrointestinal endoscopy facilities, renal dialysis centers, psychiatric outpatient centers, among many others. The Guidelines also discuss a mechanism to provide guidance on emergent issues that are not included without waiting until subsequent editions are published (typically on a four-year cycle). The Facility Guidelines Institute has organized task groups to develop and draft white papers or monographs on such subjects as bariatric design, patient lifts and transport devices, acoustics and speech privacy, oncology facilities and interventional radiology. These papers will be published for informational purposes only, but could be adopted by individual state authorities. Artekna can assist you in navigating through the complex regulatory issues facing healthcare providers, including the changes resulting from the new Guidelines. Please contact one of our healthcare design experts at 317-955-5090, or toll free 1-877-479-5300. Source: 2006 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities.