Louise Belair, P.E., LEED AP, Senior Healthcare Mechanical Engineer, HDR, Phoenix

Reducing Operating Room Infections from the Top Down

HVAC recommendations in the proposed 2006 AIA Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospital and Healthcare Facilities seek to lessen the number of surgical-site infections. Surgical-site infections (SSIs) are the third most frequently reported type of iatrogenic infection. SSIs have been estimated to result in $1 billion to $10 billion in direct and indirect medical costs each year, as reported by Susan Cantrell in Healthcare Purchasing News , March 2006 ( www.hpnonline.com/inside/2006-03/0603infectionconnection.html ). Quoted in that article, Dr. Ronald Lee Nichols of the Tulane University School of Medicine highlighted several important factors in SSIs: "The most critical factor in post-operative infection is the sound judgment and proper technique of the surgical team and the general health and disease state of the patient.