Prevention by Design: Construction and Renovation of Health Care Facilities for Patient Safety and Infection Prevention

Abstract

The built environment supports the safe care of patients in health care facilities. Infection preventionists and health care epidemiologists have expertise in prevention and control of health care-associated infections (HAIs) and assist with designing and constructing facilities to prevent HAIs. However, design elements are often missing from initial concepts. In addition, there is a large body of evidence that implicates construction and renovation as being associated with clusters of HAIs, many of which are life threatening for select patient populations. This article summarizes known risks and prevention strategies within a framework for patient safety.

Keywords: Construction; Health care design; Health care facilities; Operating room design; Risk assessment; Ventilation; Water quality; Waterborne and airborne pathogen.