hospitals seeking disaster resiliency construction features

An overwhelming majority of hospital executives say they are increasingly interested in, and promoting the concept of, resiliency when it comes to the design and construction of new spaces.

That emphasis, according to a survey of 274 such leaders, reflects a growing industry question: are today’s hospital facilities being built with an eye to surviving such natural disasters as hurricanes, earthquakes, and flooding?

The survey, conducted by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering and Health Facilities Management magazine, shows that 80 percent of hospital executives are currently including power outage resiliency solutions, followed by 53 percent incorporating fire resiliency, and 42 percent prioritizing for water storm events in the design and building of their facilities.

What is known as “resilient design” is increasingly the result of hazard-vulnerability assessments that more and more hospitals today are undertaking, with an emphasis on soliciting input from multiple departments.

While hospital officials view such trends favorably, the 2018 Hospital Construction Survey also reveals that 12 percent of respondents said their facilities have been forced to close temporarily or relocate patients as a result of a national disaster.

At the same time, hospitals incorporating resilient design concepts say they are increasingly placing power systems above ground while converting to wireless instead of underground hardwiring.

By Garry Boulard