Designing the Operating Room as a suite isn’t just a compliance strategy it’s a smart business move. Jennifer O’Connell of Compliance Vanguard breaks down how suite-based design can reduce citations, streamline workflow, and deliver real savings in both time and money. Learn why this approach is gaining traction in surgical department planning nationwide.
Written by: Jennifer O’Connell with Compliance Vanguard
Designing the Surgical Department as a suite, or multiple suites, is highly beneficial from both a cost savings standpoint and an operational standpoint. Over the years, designers have been hesitant to design surgical departments as suites. Due to the concern in applying the design requirements appropriately or just seeing the suite concept as restricting the design of the space. However, when we see a Surgical Department in action and understand the operational and regulatory needs of the staff, we then can understand how designing suites will lead to cost and time savings.
But when you observe an Operating Room in action and understand the realities of operational and regulatory needs, the value of suite design becomes clear: it saves time, reduces costs, and enhances patient and staff safety.
The Everyday Challenges in Operating Room/Surgical Department Design
A standard Surgical Department typically includes:
- Operating Rooms
- Circulating/Egress Corridors
- Support Spaces
With the ever-evolving technology we find in the Surgical Department, there is never enough storage space for all the equipment, resulting in equipment and non-sterile supplies being housed in the egress corridors. This is a common citation in healthcare compliance and accreditation. In addition, access to the operating rooms themselves can be simplified if the requirements for positive latching corridor doors do not apply. Doors that staff can push open with a hip or elbow instead of needing to turn a handle is beneficial to infection control and sterile operations.
Another critical point? Access to the Operating Room itself. If corridor doors aren’t required to latch positively, staff can enter more easily using a hip or elbow enhancing infection control and sterility.
Standard Surgical Departments include the Operating Rooms, circulating/egress corridors, and support spaces. With the ever-evolving technology we find in the Surgical Department, there is never enough storage space for all the equipment, resulting in equipment and non-sterile supplies being housed in the egress corridors. This is a common citation in healthcare compliance and accreditation. In addition, access to the operating rooms themselves can be simplified if the requirements for positive latching corridor doors do not apply. Doors that staff can push open with a hip or elbow instead of needing to turn a handle is beneficial to infection control and sterile operations.
Real Problems, Real Solutions
While both of those concepts may seem minimal to the designer or to other hospital staff, they are an active and common issue within the Surgical Department. As someone who provides regulatory consultation to health care facilities, I spend a good amount of time in Surgical Departments. A common request from facilities and surgical staff is to create a space that allows them more freedom to storage equipment near operating rooms and to permit easier access to operating rooms. They also want to know how to cut down on Accreditation Organization (AO) citations.
Currently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) applies the requirements of the 2012 Life Safety Code® as the standard for determining fire and life safety compliance. Chapter 18, which discusses the requirements for new health care occupancies, is where we would find the requirements for designing new suites in the Surgical Department. Suites within the Surgical Department would be classified as patient care non-sleeping suites since patients are receiving treatment instead of resting in a hospital bed. This can be confusing since the patient is usually sleeping while receiving the treatment in the surgical department.
Code Requirements for Operating Room and Surgical Department Suites
There are four specific requirements that designers must meet when designing a non-sleeping suite. Note that this information assumes that the Surgical Department is sprinkler protected. Those requirements are:
- Max Area:The area of a suite cannot be more than 10,000 sq ft.
- Egress Access:At least one door from the suite must be to the egress corridor.
- Travel Distance:The travel distance from any point in the suite to any egress door, either to another suite or to the egress corridor cannot be greater than 100 ft.
- No Dead Ends:Designing a suite cannot create a dead-end corridor, since egress cannot be through a suite. In other words, an occupant cannot go from an egress corridor to a suite to exit the building.
Applying these requirements to a single suite is not difficult, but creating multiple suites within a large Surgical Department can become incredibly challenging. The two areas where suites are most beneficial are the Operating Room area and the Prep/Recovery or PACU area. Prep/Recovery areas are usually open bays of beds and need to be open to allow staff to have direct visual supervision of patients. The OR areas benefit based on the issues already discussed.
How Suite Design Saves Money
Designing suites during the initial project phase is the most cost-effective approach. Here’s why:
- Less Hardware: Internal suite doors don’t require positive latches
- Avoid Retrofits: Adding suites post-construction often involves downtime, temporary closures, and costly upgrades
- Minimize Citations: Avoiding non-compliance from the beginning prevents the added cost of fixing violations under time pressure
- Better Staff Practices: Proper layout reduces the need for ongoing education and monitoring of poor storage habits
But what about saving time? Operationally, the staff of the Surgical Department are moving quickly, grabbing supplies, and moving critical patients. Having equipment right outside the Operating Room door allows for quick access when needed. Being able to push the Operating room door open with a bump of the hip while hands are full or while pushing a patient into or out of a room also saves time. And as noted above, the time lost from taking rooms out of services to create suites after the fact or remedy citations is also a factor.
Designing the Surgical Department, or at the very least the OR area and Prep/Recovery, as suites at the onset of the project is something that the ownership may need to push with designers. Doing so will allow for the most operational flexibility for the Surgical Department, saving time and money. Many health systems make this a standard for all new construction or major renovation of Surgical Departments.
About the Author
Jennifer O’Connell is a Fire Protection Engineer and Director of Regulatory Compliance and Compliance Vanguard, a division of Vanguard Resources, Inc. With over 25 years of experience, Jennifer has helped more than 200 healthcare facilities navigate complex compliance and life safety challenges.
Want More Information?
Watch the Advantage Workshop where Jennifer O’Connell takes a deeper dive into suite-based design strategies that work.
For more workshop visit The Advantage Network.
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