Exploring the Condition of Wards in Malaysia Hospital Buildings

Hospital buildings condition necessitated the findings of this study especially the state of the wards in the hospital buildings. The objective of this study is to examine the conditions of the wards in the hospital buildings, and proffer recommendations to various stakeholders for enhancement. A quantitative approach was used where the condition of the hospital wards was ranked respectively by the participants were physicians, psychologists, dentists, veterinarians, medical doctors, medical officers, nurses, and other hospital buildings professional users constitute the sample stratum. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyse the data; descriptive and inferential such as reliability, validity, and ranking. The salient finding is that polluted ventilation, faulty ceiling lamps, faulty fire alarms, faulty wall (wall finishes/painting) and faulty window handles, were the condition of wards that were ranked highest (slightly bad) and merely affected. This implies that there is the need to use a better maintenance management approach to avert further decline in the condition of the hospital wards. Also, the research findings states that hospital buildings conditions and components of wards could be in the good state at all times using a holistic approach that will reduce more wards component depreciations for quality services outputs for the users. The wards conditions in the hospital buildings could be greatly improved by using proper strategies and maintenance management plans. Most of the studies about hospital building wards had focused on thermal comfort, but there is a paucity of studies that investigate the hospital buildings' condition of wards with low number in respondent active participation. Despite the constant rise in maintenance costs, there are numerous complaints and critiques of hospital buildings reported in the media. The lack of proper consideration for maintenance management and weaknesses in Malaysia hospitals has led to the deterioration of hospital buildings and reduced healthcare services. The study was being able to highlight some beneficial qualities and were also highlights some weaknesses of wards condition in the Malaysian hospital buildings which can tentatively be curtailed so users can be comfortable and satisfied

Confederate military hospitals in Richmond

A publication containing information on Confederate military hospitals in Richmond, Virginia, during the United States Civil War. Sections include: Foreward, General Index of Hospital Names, General Hospital Buildings, Notes, General Hospital Buildings, Notes, General Hospital Encampments, Illustrations, Sources, and Picture Credits.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cmh/1000/thumbnail.jp

Daylighting Performance of Solar Control Films for Hospital Buildings in a Mediterranean Climate

One of the main retrofitting strategies in warm climates is the reduction of the effects of solar radiation. Cooling loads, and in turn, cooling consumption, can be reduced through the implementation of reflective materials such as solar control films. However, these devices may also negatively affect daylight illuminance conditions and the electric consumption of artificial lighting systems. In a hospital building, it is crucial to meet daylighting requirements as well as indoor illuminance levels and visibility from the inside, as these have a significant impact on health outcomes. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence on natural illuminance conditions of a solar control film installed on the windows of a public hospital building in a Mediterranean climate. To this end, a hospital room, with and without solar film, was monitored for a whole year. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted on the use of artificial lighting, illuminance levels and rolling shutter aperture levels, as well as an analysis of natural illuminance and electric consumption of the artificial lighting system. The addition of a solar control film to the external surface of the window, in combination with the user-controlled rolling shutter aperture levels, has reduced the electric consumption of the artificial lighting system by 12.2%. Likewise, the solar control film has increased the percentage of annual hours with natural illuminance levels by 100–300 lux

Building sustainability assessment: the case of hospital buildings

The hospital project contains different aspects from the most common projects of residential, office or service buildings. Designing a hospital environment is based in a number of criteria related to the satisfaction and well being of the working team, the patient and the administrators. This kind of project has a strong social responsibility and impact on the city. Mostly due to various design requirements, these buildings are not designed and operated in a sustainable way. Based on this context it is important to study the best practices of a sustainable hospital design that should be taken into account in the design phase (to support the decision to adopt solutions that contribute to the building sustainability) and lifetime operation (supporting users and managers for the operation and equipment maintenance at an high level of efficiency). This paper will discuss the importance of the hospital buildings for the sustainable construction and will present some indicators that could support the sustainable design, operation and maintenance of a hospital building

Modeling Occupant Window Behavior in Hospitals—A Case Study in a Maternity Hospital in Beijing, China

Nowadays, relevant data collected from hospital buildings remain insufficient because hospital buildings often have stricter environmental requirements resulting in more limited data access than other building types. Additionally, existing window-opening behavior models were mostly developed and validated using data measured from the experimental building itself. Hence, their accuracy is only assessed by the algorithm’s evaluation index, which limits the model’s applicability, given that it is not tested by the actual cases nor cross-verified with other buildings. Based on the aforementioned issues, this study analyzes the window-opening behavior of doctors and patients in spring in a maternity hospital in Beijing and develops behavioral models using logistic regression. The results show that the room often has opened windows in spring when the outdoor temperature exceeds 20 °C. Moreover, the ward windows’ use frequency is more than 10 times higher than those of doctors’ office. The window-opening behavior in wards is more susceptible to the influence of outdoor temperature, while in the doctors’ office, more attention is paid to indoor air quality. Finally, by embedding the logistic regression model of each room into the EnergyPlus software to simulate the CO2 concentration of the room, it was found that the model has better applicability than the fixed schedule model. However, by performing cross-validation with different building types, it was found that, due to the particularity of doctors’ offices, the models developed for other building types cannot accurately reproduce the window-opening behavior of doctors. Therefore, more data are still needed to better understand window usage in hospital buildings and support the future building performance simulations of hospital buildings

Reliability Analysis of Fire Stairs in Hospital Buildings (Case Study: Malahayati Islamic Hospital and University of North Sumatra Hospital)

One important aspect of hospital buildings is the safety of the occurrence of fire hazards, especially in the fire stairs. The hospital is classified as very crowded because of the large number of inpatients or outpatients who consult at the Malahayati Islamic Hospital or the University of North Sumatra Hospital, both middle and upper-middle class. Because the density level of occupants in hospital buildings is high, it requires a fire ladder that meets the standards, how to apply the fire ladder reliability system and its future recommendations on the Malahayati Islamic Hospital building and the University of North Sumatra Hospital. This study aims to determine the application and analyze the level of reliability of fire stairs in hospital buildings. This study uses data analysis method, namely AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) which is based on very effective research to help solve problems in the fire stairs reliability system in the case study of the Islamic Hospital Malahayati, the level of reliability is sufficient, while the University of North Sumatra Hospital has a very good level of reliability. Several design recommendations were made and tested to increase the reliability of fire stairs at Malahayati Islamic Hospital and the University of North Sumatra Hospital; the results can be improved