• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.506-514
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• 2015

During the progression of this study, we visited 17 medical institutions. These medical institutions underwent inspection for facility eligibility of national inpatient isolation units to care for patients. Seventeen consultation meetings were held to gather expert opinions, and conferences were held with the medical institutions and local levels of government. Based on these facts, we established a field application model of the criteria of safety-management and conducted a study on this method in order to create more scientific and systematic safety-management criteria including criteria regarding facilities maintenance and methods of equipment inspection. According to an analysis on the 17 medical institutions examined, facility eligibility of 17 national inpatient isolation units was found to be 78.3% on average. Through analysis of the present domestic and foreign conditions of medical institutions, we proposed improvements for when remodeling becomes necessary and established criteria for safety-management in national inpatient isolation units for the care of patients in accordance with the domestic healthcare system.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.29-35
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• 2023

Purpose: The 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted the lack of negative pressure isolation rooms and the fragility of the healthcare system. The need for healthcare facility transformation for respiratory infectious diseases has become more prominent due to COVID-19, and the purpose of this study is to provide a foundation for the rapid, economical, and safe construction of negative pressure isolation wards. Methods: This study analyzes the current status of hospitals that have been converted to negative pressure isolation rooms, and provides architectural plans and examples to provide a reference for bedroom change. Research data of this study have been obtained by analyzing the drawings of negative pressure isolation wards of nationally designated inpatient treatment beds and urgent isolation beds. In addition, the relevant literature of urgent isolation beds has been analyzed to derive bedroom change type. Result: In this study, a total of 21 isolation bed conversion methods have been presented. Implications: In order to change efficiently from a general ward to an isolation ward, it is necessary to consider the actual hospital's infectious disease transmission patterns and facility conditions.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.67-75
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• 2017

Purpose: This study is for the facility eligibility and improvement evaluation analysis for the patient care environment of 7 facilities which has national inpatient isolation units. Methods: For the evaluation, first of all, the patient care environment of national inpatient isolation units are scrutinized by the checklist which is used on from 2014 with the 4 fields of criteria : architectural planning and layout, general requirement and condition for operating the negative pressured isolated patient room, HVAC system, and waste water discharging system. Finally, the evaluation results are compared with that of 2014. Results: The result shows that the average value of facility eligibility is 89.3 percent and which is 8.9 percent higher than the value before the MERS occurred. Implications: It is clear that facility remodeling of 7 institutions is being performed continuously, and the result of facility eligibility evaluation is reflected on design of a new 21 national inpatient isolation units those are going to be constructed from 2016. Therefore, it is expected that this study is used as a practical reference to establish the criteria of patient care environment management and safety management for both infectious disease outbreak and general service condition.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.73-82
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• 2017

Purpose: Since the facility guidelines for National Designated Isolation Unit wards(NDIUs) had been edited since 2016, all hospital who want to expand or install NDIU should adapt the new guidelines. Instead of providing area requirement, by the way, only essential or optional facility requirements are suggested except patient bedroom in the guidelines. So, as analyze area and area composition of the NDIUs, it could be expected that this study has a role as an area planing reference for not only NDIU but also another airborne infection isolation room. Methods: For the area analysis, 18 sample hospitals are selected among 2016 year applicants. All rooms in NDIUs are grouped as zones whether those are negative air pressurized or not and programed room or not. At the end, area of the zones are summarized and analysed a relationship between area increase and bed number by both correlation analysis and regression analysis. In addition, department usable and gross area per bed, N/G ratio, G/N ratio, and average area ratio of each zone is calculated. Results: First of all, rooms in none negative air pressurized zone of the NDIUs haven't shown a regular installation so that only those in negative air pressurized zone are targeted for the area analysis. Second of all, patient room unit(0.92) and support area(0.79), by correlation analysis, are correlated with total net area. Patient room unit(0.94) and total net area(0.79) are also shown a correlation with bed number. Department usable area($R^2=0.63$, y=36.278x + 102) and patient room unit area($R^2=0.89$, y= 27.993x - 0.8924) has a relationship with bed number by regression analysis. Average N/G is shown as 0.85 and G/N 1.36. Average area ratio of circulation, doffing area, patient room unit, and support area are 25.4%, 9.1%, 50.9%, and 14.6% in order. Implications: This study is a basic research for exploring the NDIUs guidelines to find resonable evidence to develop it for its practical use. Still, it is possibly expected that the guideline is to be developed by post occupancy evaluation in the area of where minimum requirement or facility grade needs to be defined, and by further studies with various perspectives.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.39-49
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• 2021

Purpose: The negative pressure isolation ward is a key facility in preparedness and response to infectious diseases. For the sustainable operation of the facility, appropriate facility improvement is required. The experience of medical staff responding to infectious diseases in the COVID-19 pandemic provides effective informations for facility planning. Methods: The post occupancy evaluation (POE) was conducted by interviewing medical staff who is working on Nationally designated negative pressure isolation ward in general hospital. Floor plan analysis was conducted before field surveys for identifying facility characteristic and spatial composition. After that, field surveys were conducted at 3 hospitals, and interviews and fieldwork were conducted together. Results: It is necessary to increase the standard size of ward area from 15m² to 20m². The size of the doffing room has to be planned for accommodation of two or more people. Equipment storage, clean storage and waste storage also should be properly planned. There were almost no problems with the circulation in the ward. There was not enough space for medical staff. Implications: For a sustainable and safe negative pressure isolation ward planning, it is necessary to exploit learning from the medical staffs who have many experiences of coping with infectious diseases.