sterile room sits between every two ORs, and the
instrument decontamination room is located in a
centralized area. Instruments cleaned on the
"dirty" side of the room are passed through a win-
dow to the "clean" side, where they are placed into
one of four 24-inch x 24-inch autoclaves. We also
installed a water purification sys-
tem to treat and soften the facili-
ty's hard water supply, an addi-
tion that helps to ensure instru-
ments are properly cleaned and
have a longer useful life.
• Redundant air flow. We first
explored expanding the original
surgery center's footprint, but ran
into cost and practicality issues
because a single HVAC system
regulated air flow in all four of
the facility's ORs. Installing multi-
ple units would have necessitated
a complete shutdown of the cen-
ter for several months, making it
impossible for the surgeons to
run viable practices. In the new
facility, three individual HVAC
systems control air flow for two
ORs per unit. That way, we can
still run four rooms if one unit
goes down.
• The right amount of rooms.
Deciding on how many ORs to
build can be challenging. We ran
extensive utilization projections
based on the number of cases
the surgeon-owners generated
when we were planning the new
facility. The practices are large
and active, so we also spoke
with each one to understand
their plans for long-term
growth. We looked at popula-
tion estimates, particularly
among the aging patient popula-
tion who would need eye care,
and ultimately decided to build
six ORs. We're currently running
and staffing five of the rooms, and will likely
open up the unused OR in a few years — maybe
even sooner.
When planning a new facility, carefully balance
not overbuilding with having room to grow. You
have to be able to immediately support the cost
F
E B R U A R Y 2 0 2 1 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y . N E T • 2 3
Don't rinse with
a syringe...
Use The
Over 6,000 sold!
• Eliminates hand fatigue
caused by repetitive syringe
use
• Fully autoclavable accessories
• Multiple operational modes
• Frees up your hands to
perform other tasks, greatly
improving the speed and
efficiency of your reprocessing
department
Call AOI for more Information
800.576.1266
9 Orchard, Suite 111, Lake Forest, CA 92630
www.optisurgical.com • cs@optisurgical.com
to rinse your lumened
instruments and tubing
