Inappropriate Federal Requirements for Air Control in Hospital Isolation Rooms

ON FEB 14, 1947, there appeared in the Federal Register "General Standards" for the construction of hospitals. These standards were created at the request of Congress as part of the implementation of the Hill-Burton program, which provided federal funding for hospital construction. The standards were revised from time to time and in 1973 were retitled "Minimum Requirements of Construction and Equipment for Hospital Medical Facilities." The most recent version¹ was adopted on Oct 3, 1978. It applies to construction of new hospitals and renovation of existing hospitals. Since there is now almost no Hill-Burton money available for hospital construction or renovation, the requirements are used at the federal level only as a criterion for approval of Department of Housing and Urban Development loans to hospitals. However, 17 states have adopted them in their entirety, and most of the remaining states have adopted minimally modified versions.^2(pp2-22) Although some of