Environment of Care (EC) (Critical Access Hospitals / Critical Access Hospitals)
Design Criteria - Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI)
Publish | January 01, 0001
What is the requirement for organizations to use when assessing building design and construction criteria?
In accordance with EC.02.06.05 and LD.04.01.01, The Joint Commission expects organizations to assess building design and construction requirements based on local, state, and federal regulations and codes. Typically an organization's controlling authority for this issue is their state health department licensing entity. The organization would have to check their licensing rules to determine their criteria and whether retroactive compliance is allowed. When these entities are silent on a particular design criteria, The Joint Commission recognizes the 2010 Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities for new construction and renovation. The FGI allows requirements at the time of construction to be used, so the edition of the FGI applicable at the time of construction would be used for existing configurations. If current requirements are more strict, The Joint Commission would expect the organization to perform a gap analysis to validate that adequate patient and staff safety, and process integrity can be maintained. [EC.02.06.05]
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