This is the first edition of the Guidelines in which requirements for hospitals, outpatient facilities, and residential care facilities are presented in three independent documents. Facility types covered in the 2018 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals include general hospitals, freestanding emergency care facilities, critical access hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, children’s hospitals, and mobile/transportable medical units.

Changes in the 2018 Hospital Guidelines include a new section on accommodations for care of patients of size; addition of an option for flexibility by combining pre- and post-procedure patient care areas; and a complete overhaul of imaging requirements. Other notable updates address telemedicine spaces, acoustic design, airborne infection isolation rooms, sterile processing facilities, and mobile/transportable units.

As with the previous two editions, ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170: Ventilation of Health Care Facilities was incorporated into the Guidelines to provide ventilation requirements for health care facilities. The 2018 edition of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals includes the 2017 edition of ASHRAE 170, with all addenda approved through November 2017.

Facility types covered in the Hospital Guidelines include general hospitals, children’s hospitals, critical access and other small hospitals, behavioral and mental health hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, and mobile/transportable medical units.

The 2022 Hospital Guidelines includes several notable new sections as well as revisions aimed at providing flexibility, reducing cost, and clarifying intent. New sections were written for a behavioral and mental health crisis unit, low-acuity patient treatment station (intended for “walking well” patients), and a burn trauma intensive care unit. New flexible design options include a provision allowing subdivision of trauma/resuscitation rooms as well as design guidance for a flexible secure holding room (i.e., a single-patient treatment room that can easily be converted to a secure holding room). Major updates appear in requirements for mobile units, imaging facilities, behavioral and mental health facilities, and neonatal intensive care units.

As with the last three editions, ANSI/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170: Ventilation of Health Care Facilities has been incorporated into the Guidelines as minimum requirements for ventilation systems. Included in the 2022 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals is the 2021 edition of Standard 170 dated November 2021, which incorporates addenda c and d.

Note: The 2018 Hospital Guidelines included Chapter 2.3, Specific Requirements for Freestanding Emergency Care Facilities. This chapter does not appear in the 2022 Hospital Guidelines because a freestanding emergency care facility is not an inpatient facility. Requirements for freestanding emergency care facilities can now be found exclusively in the 2022 Outpatient Guidelines.