In September 2004, BBH Design of Research Triangle Park, NC, was awarded a national contract with the US Department of Health & Human Services, Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA), Division of Engineering Services, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create prototype designs for a 15-bed and a 25-bed CAH. The prototype was required to be highly efficient, affordable with respect to both capital and life-cycle cost, and adaptable for use by any of the current 1,000+ CAH providers interested in replacing their outdated facilities. In February 2005, the Federal government (HRSA, HUD, and the USDA) enthusiastically approved the CAH prototype, primarily because of its design for flexibility.

Believing that the built environment can be an asset in the healing process, the prototype was developed as a Green Guide for a Health Care Pilot Project. It is conceived as a Health Park where the building occupants and community participate in a restorative environment that not only encourages healing but promotes the health of the population.

The CAH Prototype is designed to provide an economic and flexible facility that provides for the vast differences of location, market, and service. The facility allows for initial flexibility in sizing of services and space while accommodating future changes in healthcare delivery and consumer demand.

The design approach for maximum flexibility entailed the use of modular design, including modular mechanical and electrical systems housed in a central spine, a universal space approach with high floor-to-floor heights allowing for ease of converting internal space to other potential uses, universal room models, and provisions for future expansion and convertibility. The end result is a state-of-the-art hospital built for today, and designed for tomorrow’s realities.

The use of modular techniques and systems will allow for shorter construction times, whether it is for packages of complete clinical suites or semi moveable components. This will also reduce construction cost, allowing more funding to go towards equipment purchases. Projected costs for the prototypes in the U.S. are shown in the table above.

The CAH prototype document, when published by HRSA, will serve as a decision-making tool for rural hospital leaders to estimate program space requirements and costs associated with a replacement facility project. BBH Design believes that a project of this magnitude should be considered a major economic advantage for the local rural economy and encourages the hospital to consider a process that combines national perspective, insight, knowledge and expertise with qualified local and regional resources to provide a practice ready facility that can serve a community for the next 50 years.

BBH Design can assist providers and other decision-makers in the replacement process by providing a full range of resources and expertise to plan, finance, design and construct a new hospital, or by serving as consultants, or advisors to local professionals. BBH Design is a multi-disciplined organization of strategic, financial, planning, design and construction resources that is equipped to successfully guide any hospital through the overwhelming facility development maze.

Contact BBH Design to learn more about the CAH Prototype.