will in large part be based on the success of your sterile processing
department. Don't make it the least looked-after room in the
design phase, or operationally.
2. Efficiency-minded additions
These beyond-the-basics considerations will help your physicians
and staff keep pace with a day packed with cases.
• Smart layout. Designing GI suites is pretty straightforward.
Procedure rooms should be a little longer than they are wide, with
the door in the middle of the wall closest to where the patient's feet
will be. That way, you don't have to turn the stretcher-bed when
pushing it into the room. That makes it easy for one staff member
to roll the patient directly into the spot where the procedure will
take place.
• Waste management. Consider installing a lavatory within the
endoscopy suite. It's not to be used as a toilet, but as a waste dis-
posal area to dump solid waste. It's much better than having to
walk down a hallway after a procedure to the nearest waste utili-
ty room. Having this room directly off the suite limits the area of
contamination. You could also consider a fluid waste manage-
ment system. An in-wall system might be best for a new-construc-
tion facility. In that case, you'd put the vacuum system on the
back wall that would dump into the house septic system, or you
could simply run a portable cart-based suction system and dump
the contents into the nearest toilet, utility sink or unit-specific
docking port.
• Patient transport. Stretcher beds allow the patient to say in the
same bed the entire time. They get on it in the pre-op area, roll into
the procedure room, get taken into the recovery area without having
to move onto different tables and chairs. These beds reduce the
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