Department Of Veterans Affairs
VA Space Planning Criteria (Chapter 110)
Washington, DC 20420
December 2006
the patient under direct supervision and should have no furniture or sharp corners of
which a patient can inflict harm on oneself or others.
I.
Mental Health and Behavioral Patient Care Unit: An inpatient Mental Health unit
comprised of a range of 24 to 30 beds with associated support spaces. These units can
include 1) Psychiatric Units, (2) Substances Abuse Units, 3) Drug Abuse Treatment, 4)
Alcohol Dependency
J. Net-to-department-gross (NTDG): A parameter, determined by the VA for each Space
Planning Criteria Chapter, used to convert the programmed Net Square Foot (NSF) area
to the Department Gross Square Foot (DGSF) area. The NTDG Departmental
Conversion Factor for Mental Health and Behavioral Patient Care Unit is 1.65.
K. Program for Design (PFD): A space program generated by VA-SEPS based on criteria
set forth in this document and specific information entered about Concept of Operations,
Workload projections and Staffing levels authorized.
L. Room Efficiency Factor: A factor that provides flexibility in the utilization of a room to
account for patient delays, scheduling conflicts, and equipment maintenance. Common
factors are in the 80 to 85% range. A room with 80% room efficiency provides a buffer
to assume that this room would be available 20% of the time beyond the planned
operational practices of the room. This factor may be adjusted based on the actual
and/or anticipated operations and processes of the room/department.
M. SEPS (VA-SEPS): Acronym for Space and Equipment Planning System, a digital tool
developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs
to generate a Program for Design (PFD) and an Equipment List for a VA healthcare
project based on specific information entered in response to Input Data Questions. VA-
SEPS incorporates the propositions set forth in all VA space planning criteria chapters.
VA-SEPS has been designed to aid healthcare planners in creating a space plan based
on a standardized set of criteria parameters.
N. Workload: Workload is the anticipated number of procedures or suite stops that are
processed through a department / service area. The total workload applied to
departmental operational assumptions will determine overall room requirements by
modality.
3
OPERATING RATIONALE AND BASIS OF CRITERIA
A. Workload Projections or planned services / modalities for a specific VA medical center,
hospital or satellite outpatient clinic project are provided by the VA Central Office
(VACO) / VISN CARES Capacity Projection Model. The workload projections are
generated by methodology based upon the expected veteran population in the
respective market / service area. Healthcare planners working on VA medical center,
hospital or satellite outpatient clinic projects will utilize and apply the workload based
criteria set forth herein for identified services and modalities to determine room
requirements for each facility.
B. Space planning criteria have been developed on the basis of an understanding of the
activities involved in the functional areas of the Mental Health and Behavioral Patient
Mental Health and Behavioral Patient Care Units (Chapter 110): Page 110-3 of 13
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