Registration WILL CLOSE: 05/13/2024 AT 5PM

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Implementing a Space Ventilation Program: An overview of industry standards, guidelines, best practices, and available resources

Presenter:  Dennis Ford, Corporate Support Services, Atrium Health, Charlotte, NC

Short Description: To support clinical care, infection control, and ongoing patient care as well as satisfy accreditation compliance requirements, hospital facilities staff operate and maintain a large inventory of critical and non-critical, ventilated spaces. To ensure the built environment enhances the healing environment, there is a need for a structured Space Ventilation Program to control airborne contaminants by ensuring proper temperature, humidity, pressure relationships, filtration efficiencies, and air exchange rates are maintained, and inspection, testing, and maintenance activities are completed and documented. This presentation provides best practices and available resources.

Abstract: To support clinical care, infection control, and ongoing patient care as well as satisfy accreditation compliance requirements, the facilities staff in a hospital operate and maintain a large inventory of critical and non-critical ventilated spaces. Each space is designed to support and enhance the clinical care process and ultimately promote patient healing. Unfortunately, this area continues to be cited by The Joint Commission and DNV as one of the most challenging standards to meet. The built environment, including pressurized spaces, may have a negative impact on clinical care and patient outcomes due to improper pressure relationships and infrequent inspection, testing, and maintenance activities on the respective equipment and end devices in these critical spaces. Negatively pressurized spaces include Infectious Isolation Rooms and Soiled Linen Closets while positively pressurized spaces include Operating Rooms, Pharmacies, and Sterile Storage. National guidelines, including ASHRAE/ASHE 170 and state standards may apply. In addition, there may be standards or guidelines issued by professional organizations that provide requirements for spaces to minimize infections. The staff should be implementing a sustainable program to train facilities and clinical staff, to monitor the equipment and key room environmental parameters, and ultimately, to maintain performance of the equipment and end devices as designed for these spaces. This presentation will identify and share available industry resources and best practices on this topic to help others more easily create and maintain a sustainable Space Ventilation/Pressurized Spaces program.

Key Words: Space Ventilation, Ventilation Management, Pressurized Spaces, Critical Spaces, Noncritical Spaces, Infection Control, Isolation Rooms, Operating Rooms, HAIs, Pressure Relationships, EC.02.05.01 EP 15, DNV PE.8, Compliance, Standards, ASHRAE/ASHE 170, ASHRAE/ASHE 43P,

Learning Objectives:

1. Review the various standards and guidelines that should be incorporated into a space ventilation program for hospital facilities engineers and management. 

2. Specify systems and equipment that support a space ventilation program. 

3. Educate hospital staff on how to create, monitor, and maintain a space ventilation program. 

4. Identify the available resources and best practices for hospital facilities engineers to develop a space ventilation program. 

5. Discuss the proposed ASHRAE/ASHE 43P Operations Guideline on the Ventilation of Health Care Facilities and its’ potential impact on your space ventilation program.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Dennis Ford  

Dennis Ford has been a Corporate Support Services Manager for Atrium Health in Charlotte, North Carolina for the last 5 years. Prior to Atrium Health, Dennis has served in Facilities Director roles over the last 20 years for Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Baptist Health System, San Antonio, and USAA, San Antonio. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Facilities Management at University of Texas at San Antonio for their Master of Science in Facilities Management degree program.  

Dennis is a Fellow of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering and currently ASHE Region 2 Advisory Board Member. He is a Certified Healthcare Facility Manager and a Certified Healthcare Constructor. 

Dennis earned his Master of Health Administration from Texas A&M University and his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio. He also served honorably as a Captain in the United States Air Force.

A BIG THANK YOU to our 2024 Sponsors: Primetime Healthcare, Victaulic, Shah Smith & Associates, Texas Air Systems, SSR INC., CFI Companies, Engineered Air Balance, ABB, Cougar Sales, and MLN.

Tickets

$0.00 Member

$50.00 Guest Ticket

$500.00 Luncheon Sponsorship/Exhibitor Table