Department of Veterans Affairs
VA Space Planning Criteria (Chapter 269)
Washington, DC 20420
February 2007
set forth herein for identified services and products 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 Recreation Service and its
relationship with other services of a medical facility. These criteria are predicated on
established and/or anticipated best practice standards, as adapted to provide
environments supporting the highest quality heath care for Veterans
C. These criteria are subject to modification relative to development in the equipment,
medical practice, vendor requirements, and subsequent planning and design. The
selection of the size and type of Recreation Therapy Service equipment is determined
by VISN and local level medical centers, and upon Veterans Health Administration
(VHA) anticipated medical needs.
Total Daily Patient Hours (TDPH) calculations should be based on Table 1. The
TDPH will be used as a criteria parameter to determine the Program Level and size
of recreational products per Table 1:
Formula 1: Room capacity per year should be based on;
Operating days per year x Hours of operation per day= Number of annual Recreation
Minutes per procedure / 60 minutes
Activities
1. The general planning model for VA Recreation Service assumes 365 Operating
Days per Year and 12-Hours of Operation per Day.
2. The Basic Room Efficiency Factor for Recreation Therapy Service is 80%.
Example: Assume a Treatment Station that averages 45 minutes per Recreation
Activity:
365 operating days per year x 12 hours of operation per day = 4,380 = 5,840
45 minutes per clinic stop / 60 minutes
.75
A maximum capacity of 5,840 clinic stops per year, assuming 100% utilization.
However, 100% utilization is not realistic to achieve, thus, it is not realistic as a design
standard. Since the Efficiency Factor adopted is 80%, then (5,840 x 0.80) 4,672
annual Recreation Activities (of a given type) are needed to activate the space
allocation for that activity.
TABLE 1: TOTAL DAILY PATIENT HOURS (TDPH) CALCULATION PARAMETERS
BED TYPE OR CLINIC STOP
DAILY PATIENT HOURS
Medical, Surgical and Neurological *
Projected number of Beds x 1.4
Spinal Cord Injury **
Projected number of Beds x 3.1
Mental Health
Projected number of Beds x 6.1
Domiciliary
Projected number of Beds x 3.4
Recreation Service (269): Page 5 of 13
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