Department of Veterans Affairs
VA Space Planning Criteria (Chapter 226)
Washington, DC 20420
February 2007
determined by VACO and upon Veterans Health Administration (VHA) anticipated
medical needs.
D. Quantity of Exam Rooms shall be based upon the sum of a percentage of inpatient
beds plus the calculated number of rooms required for projected outpatient clinic
stops as follows:
1
Exam Rooms based upon Inpatient Beds:
a. 0.85% of Medical Inpatient beds, plus
b. 0.85% of Surgical Inpatient beds, plus
c. 9.05% of Neurological Inpatient beds, plus
2
Exam Rooms based upon Outpatient Clinic Stops:
Operating days per year x Hours of operation per day
= Number of
Minutes per clinic stop / 60 minutes
annual clinic stops
a. The general planning model for VA facilities assumes 250 Operating Days per
Year and 8 Hours of Operation per Day. Room capacity will fluctuate as hours
of operation are modified, i.e., additional capacity may be generated by
extending the daily hours of operation within the same physical setting.
b. The Basic Room Efficiency Factor for Electroencephalography Laboratory is
75%.
Example: Annual Clinic Stops for Electroencephalography Laboratory based
upon an average 60 minutes per clinic stop, including set-up, testing time, and
clean-up:
250 operating days per year x 8 hours of operation per day
= 2,000 annual
60 minutes per clinic stop / 60 minutes
clinic stops
A maximum capacity of 2,000 clinic stops per year, assuming 100% utilization.
However, 100% utilization is not realistic to achieve; thus, it is not realistic as a
design standard. Apply the Room Efficiency Factor:
2,000 x 75% = 1,500 annual clinic stops.
TABLE 1: WORKLOAD PARAMETER CALCULATION
AVERAGE
MINIMUM
LENGTH
WORKLOAD
OF CLINIC
TO
ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY STOP
UTILIZATION
GENERATE
(minutes)
ONE ROOM
LABORATORY
RATE
60
75%
1,500
Exam Room
The number of annual clinic stops per room will be used as a criteria
parameter to calculate the number of Exam Rooms required for Outpatient
procedures, rounded up to the nearest whole number, as follows:
Electroencephalography Laboratory (226): Page 4 of 10
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