PANDEMIC CONSIDERATION FOR HEALTHCARE FACILITY DESIGN
In this article Hospaccx Healthcare Consultancy has mapped all on possibilities that needs to be taken into consideration for building a hospital during or after the pandemic situation. If you need a refined market and financial feasibility or any other study related to healthcare, you can contact Hospaccx Healthcare Business Consulting Pvt. Ltd on hospaccx.india@gmail.com or you can visit our website on hospaccxconsulting.com
INTRODUCTION
Planning a building that seeks to fully address all aspects of operations during a pandemic is a major undertaking,” the guide concedes. Therefore, “it is important to be intentional about the decisions each organization makes around pandemic planning for each project. The recent pandemic has created havoc in the whole world. Most of the countries are facing with the shortages of hospital beds. Most of the countries were not prepared for this kind of situation making people and citizens of the country falling ill. To overcome this issue with the shortage of beds the countries are coming up with a quarantine / isolation center that can cater the needs of the pandemic affected patients. As the recent pandemic disease is a communicable disease so hospital are being designed into 2 zones, non communicable and communicable.
For the further pandemics or any kind of mars situation the hospital needs to be prepared in advance with the latest technology to be used. The hospital needs to be designed in such a way that any kind of mars or pandemic breaks out in the future can be handled or tackled by the Hospitals. The communicable disease ward needs to be partitioned within each beds of the patient. To design the hospital for the current and future pandemic, it requires a skilled and professional architect designer.
While designing the healthcare facility following things needs to be taken into consideration for the preparedness of any upcoming future pandemics like the current one:
- There should be separate route for the entry & exit in the hospital. The entry and exit point should be the same.
- A proper measure needs to be taken for the screening of the patients at the time of entry in the hospital.
- Patient’s consultation can be done through using the telehealth technology.
- There should be different ques for the tested and non-tested.
- The hospitals should equip with large vestibules. In these vestibules physical distancing for the patient bed can be maintained. Social distancing also needs to be followed.
- Planning, the guide states, will also consider placing a negative pressure multipurpose room adjacent to registration to isolate patients with symptoms of infectious diseases.
- HVAC needs to be taken into consideration for the pandemic situation.
- Touch less entry like placing the censored sanitizers. This can reduce the transmission of disease.
- This touch less facility can be placed for the use of the staff for PPE ( personal protective equipment)
- The touch less screening of the patient needs to be performed at the entrance like temperature screening. Dispenser of the mask can also be installed at the entrance for the visitors.
- Improving facilities’ ability to reduce the spread of infection.
- The guide makes specific planning recommendations for clinics, hospital lobbies, emergency departments, elevators, materials management, and restrooms.
- Triage areas at the front door will help sort well and unwell patients.
- One-way patient flow will ensure patients don’t cross paths with potentially unwell patients who are entering the building.
- During a pandemic, a community space would be converted to serve as a buffer between screened and unscreened patients.
- Providing surge capacity for high-volume episodes.
- The guide offers considerations for separating infected patients, providing separate entrances, ventilation (including providing a negative pressure relationship in the infectious side of the unit), and repurposing lower-acuity patient care spaces for increased patient beds.
- Sanitization of the touch area every alternate hours.
- Partition of the beds in the isolation ward or the general wards. Maintaining the physical distance between the patients.
- The hospitals should be prepared to stock up the PPEs for the pandemic situation.
- A larger mortuary space required in this situation, as the no. of mortality rates may increase in this kind of pandemic situation.
- The ICU (Intensive Care Unit) can be placed with the partitions between each bed. So that the transmission of the disease may reduce. The fogging or the sanitation of the ICU is required after each patient is discharged.
CONCLUSION
This study concludes that the healthcare facility design needs to take proper measures to overcome the situation like recent pandemic. Social distancing or the physical distance between the beds of isolation wards and PPE (personal protective equipment) touch less system needs to be followed. So that the transmission of disease can be reduced. While taking into consideration the design for healthcare facility, skilled designers are required to overcome the situation. If you need any support in Planning and Designing a new Hospital or restructuring the existing hospital you can contact us: Hospaccx healthcare business consulting Pvt. Ltd on: hospaccx.india@gmail.com. Or you can visit our website hospaccxconsulting.com
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