Since its founding in 1998, the Facilities Guidelines Institute has been developing, revising, and publishing guidelines for the construction and renovation of hospitals and outpatient facilities. In 2010, it came out with guidelines that specifically addressed noise and vibration. Last year, it published guidelines for residential healthcare facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living centers.
FGI’s guidelines have a way of insinuating themselves into state healthcare facility codes. Its call, in 2006, for single-bed patient rooms to be an “absolute” for medical, surgical, and obstetric rooms has become the standard for new hospital construction. Forty-two states have adopted FGI guidelines, in part or in full, says FGI’s CEO Douglas Erickson, FASHE, CHFM, HFDP, CHC.
The healthcare industry has largely embraced FGI guidelines. “Hospitals are pressing the AEC community to at least advise the owner about the latest guidelines, and then let the owner decide if it wants to take the leap,” says Erickson.
FGI gets about a thousand suggestions for new guidelines or revisions from the public every year, says the institute’s Chairman and President, Kurt Rockstroh, FAIA, FACHA, President/CEO, Steffian Bradley Architects & Planners. Those ideas are vetted by steering and revision committees; if accepted, they are turned into draft documents and submitted for public comment. A cost-benefits committee serves as another filter. Eventually all of FGI’s committee members vote on whether a proposal becomes a guideline. Each four-year revision cycle costs FGI about $2 million.
The 2014 revised guidelines touch on six factors that affect a hospital’s soundscape:
1. Site exterior noise
2. Acoustic finishes and details
3. Room noise levels and minimum sound coefficients for various types of rooms
4. Sound isolation and speech privacy
5. Alarms and sound-masking techniques
6. Vibration
Because FGI does not include suppliers or manufacturers on its committee, its revision cycle is not ANSI-approved, although it does follow ANSI protocols as much as possible, says Erickson. The 2018 revisions, which will be voted on by 105 committee members, are likely to include guidelines about alarm fatigue in hospitals.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 27, 2020
Milieu: Creating restorative environments in behavioral health
It’s time to take a closer look at the collection of therapeutic settings known as milieu.
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 11, 2020
New York City’s largest freestanding cancer center opens
The building creates a model for 21st century cancer care.
Healthcare Facilities | Feb 3, 2020
China builds 645,000-sf coronavirus hospital in 10 days
The project began construction on Jan. 23.
Healthcare Facilities | Jan 30, 2020
The complex dance of healthcare transitioning
Hospital employees, though excited about technological advancements, are expected to navigate a new workplace and care for their patients at the same time, all while training on new equipment and navigating a new building.
Healthcare Facilities | Jan 15, 2020
Top 4 healthcare design trends that will shape medical planning in the 2020s
For patients and healthcare staff, these developments will be most evident in new tools, such as robotic surgical tables and intra-hospital delivery drones, that improve healthcare services and outcomes.
Architects | Jan 6, 2020
Merger expands HED’s presence in SoCal
Puchlik Design Associates, its new addition, specializes in healthcare design.
Healthcare Facilities | Nov 26, 2019
Grand Rapids, Mich., is striving to emerge as a health research and innovation space
Michigan State University is part of a development team for a new life sciences building.
Healthcare Facilities | Nov 6, 2019
A new hospital tower will serve women and children exclusively in the expanding San Antonio market
This $500 million project represents the next phase in the hospital system’s capital improvement program.
Healthcare Facilities | Nov 5, 2019
UNC Health Care’s Surgical Tower set to begin construction
Skanska USA will build the project in three phases.
Healthcare Facilities | Oct 4, 2019
Heart failure clinics are keeping more patients out of emergency rooms
An example of this building trend recently opened at Beaumont Hospital near Ann Arbor, Mich.