Department of Veterans Affairs
VA Space Planning Criteria (Chapter 286)
Washington, DC 20420
February 2007
D. The Surgical Service provides facilities (surgical suite) for surgical intervention for
both inpatients and ambulatory care patients. The Surgical Service is composed of
the following Functional Areas:
1. Administrative/Staff Offices, and
2. A surgical suite comprised of operating rooms (ORs) and associated support
areas (inpatient and ambulatory), a Cystoscopy Suite (Cysto.), and
postanesthesia recovery room facilities (PAR). The basic surgical suite consists
of:
a. Two general operating rooms and operating room support
b. Ambulatory surgery support space.
c. A Cystoscopy Suite and Cystoscopy Suite support
d. Postanesthesia Recovery Room Facilities (PAR)
The surgical suite that will not perform Ambulatory surgery in the Surgical Suite
will provide the following as a minimum:
a. Two general operating rooms and operating room support space
b. Ambulatory surgery support space
c. A PAR
E. Room capacity per year should be based on:
Operating days per year x Hours of operation per day
= Number of
Number of hours/procedure
annual procedures
1. 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.
2. The Basic Room Efficiency Factor for Surgical Services is 70% for affiliated and
non-affiliated.
3. The following chart shows the breakdown of Surgical Services by procedure type
Example: Assume an OR room for Cardiac that averages 6.5 hours per
procedure:
250 operating days per year x 8 hours of operation per day
= 308 annual
6.5 hours
procedures
A maximum capacity of 308 procedures per year, assuming 100% utilization.
However, 100% utilization is not realistic to achieve, thus, it is not realistic as a
design standard. Apply Room Efficiency Factor for an affiliated facility:
308 x 70% = 216 annual procedures/room.
TABLE 1: WORKLOAD PARAMETER CALCULATION
Surgical Service (Chapter 286): Page 5 of 20
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