530
Cost Base: Functional Area Costs
The next highest unit costs are found in the swimming pool at Memphis.
This also due to the inclusion of special elements such as independent hot
water generators, filtration apparatus, automatic chlorinators, pumps and
local circulation piping.
534.6.7
Those functional areas in which unit costs fall in the middle range are
characterized by heavy proportion of costs in piping and medical gas
distribution. Examples of such moderate plumbing costs areas would
include the nursing units, radiology, the laboratories, and the physical
medicine and rehabilitation department.
534.6.8
The areas with the lowest unit costs are those that have little or no
medical gas piping and no abnormal fire protection requirements. Theses
low cost areas include deep therapy, the auditorium; dietetic and cafeteria
areas, and the central service area. The warehouse, storage, and shop
areas also tend toward the low end of the scale in spite of their relatively
high fire protection requirements.
534.6.9
Variations between the Miami and Memphis hospitals as high as 50
percent in the case of the animal research departments, where special fire
protection was required at Miami. The overall unit costs, however, fall
within six percent.
534.7
ELECTRICAL POWER DISTRIBUTION
534.7.1
Figures 530-11 and 530-12 illustrate the proportion of electrical distribution
costs among functional areas at Miami and Memphis. Those areas that
are relatively small in size or in which the requirement for numbers of
outlets or power consumption is large, have the highest cost unit costs.
The functional areas with the highest costs include the surgical suites,
recovery units, and the radiology areas. Other areas with proportionately
high costs are laboratories, dietetic service areas, central service, and the
deep therapy units. Other causes of higher unit costs found within certain
functional areas are isolated, ungrounded systems and explosion proof
devices in the surgical suites, and unusual branch circuit wiring in the
recovery units.
534.7.2
Elaborate power or lighting systems such as those found in surgery,
recovery, nursing, radiology, deep therapy, laundry, and central sterile
have a high proportion of their total cost in equipment. The lowest
proportionate costs for equipment are found in the areas occupied by the
laboratories, physical medicine, dietetic spaces and cafeteria.
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