This is the latest in the 54-year history of this guide-lines document to aid in the design and constructionof hospital and other health care facilities.The original General Standards appeared in theFederal Register on February 14, 1947, as part of theimplementing regulations for the Hill-Burton pro-gram. The standards were revised from time to timeas needed. In 1974 the document was retitledMinimum Requirements of Construction and Equipmentfor Hospital and Medical Facilitiesto emphasize thatthe requirements were generally minimum, ratherthan recommendations of ideal standards. The 1974edition was the first to request public input and com-ment. It also removed any requirements relating tothe preparation of plans, specifications, and estimatesor to site survey and soil investigation, which hadbeen a part of all previous editions. These require-ments were published in a document entitledTechnical Manual on Facility Design and Constructionpublished by the Department of Health, Education,and Welfare’s (DHEW) Office of FacilitiesEngineering.In 1984 the Department of Health and HumanServices (DHHS) removed from regulation therequirements relating to minimum standards of con-struction, renovation, and equipment of hospitals andmedical facilities, as cited in the MinimumRequirements DHEW Publication No. (HRA) 81-14500. Since the federal grant and loan programs hadexpired, there was no need for the federal govern-ment to retain the guidelines in regulation format. Toreflect the non-regulatory status, the title waschanged to Guidelines for Construction and Equipmentof Hospital and Medical Facilities.However, the docu-ment was, and still is, used by many state authoritieshaving jurisdiction for licensure or registration.Further, the Guidelines are used by DHHS staff toassess Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment applications for hospital mortgageinsurance and for Indian Health Service constructionprojects. Therefore, regulatory language has beenretained. This was the last year the document wasrevised and published by DHHS; at the same time,they published and distributed an addendum to theGuidelines entitled Energy Considerations for HospitalConstruction and Equipment.
Source: fgiguidelines
