Animal Hospital Design

Strategies for Better Care

Published by the American Animal Hospital Association
with a generous educational grant from Midmark

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 Contents

1 | Embrace the Possibilities

2| Explore Whole Hospital Design

5| Choose the Right Cabinetry

7| Increase Revenue with Boarding

10 | Consider the Hospital Design Timeline

11 | Install Flooring That Lasts

13 | Design the Dental Suite for Success

15 | Plan the Pack Prep and Sterilization Area

17 | Achieve Better Clinical Outcomes with Better Hospital Design

Hospital Design Working Group

Many thanks to these subject-matter experts who provided
thought leadership and guidance for this resource:

Jeff Adney | Kelly Evers | John Freytag | Danielle Heberle | Karen Herndon
Scott Manning | Scott Mansfield | Linda Pappalardo | Ashley Reivydas
Drew Roby | Greg Taylor | Crissy Treon

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 Embrace the Possibilities
Veterinary hospital construction projects can feel
daunting on top of the daily demands and
bustle of a busy practice. It’s tempting
to stick with the status quo when
possible changes and improvements
require more time and energy than
you’re already expending.

Whether you’re working on an all-new building, a

major renovation or addition, or smaller changes
in key spaces, decisions made early directly affect
the following: and digital design
• Veterinary team productivity, efficiency, tools—without any financial commitment—
ergonomics, workflows, and safety that make envisioning workspaces easier than
• Patient care, safety, and clinical outcomes deciphering flat blueprints.
• Client experiences and satisfaction
Thanks to extensive experience with thousands
• Practice standards and team onboarding and
of spaces in hospitals of all sizes, these veterinary
training
industry insiders can help you avoid costly
• Financial growth potential, including how
mistakes like these:
efficient workflows can bring down costs and
• Dedicating too little space for the sterilization
increase revenue
area
Before you hire an architect or sign with a • Putting the pharmacy too far from exam
general contractor, leverage the expertise of your rooms or the lobby
veterinary industry partners. Otherwise, you risk • Overusing cabinetry to fill blank wall spaces
needing changes later that cost more time and • Stacking cages too high to reach easily and
money. safely, turning them into expensive storage
• Forgetting to account for required clearances
Certainly, architects specializing in animal care for equipment to fit in the space along with
facilities and contractors carrying the best team members
reputation bring a wealth of experience. But what • Picking the wrong flooring for your situation
if you could think through critical decisions with • Trying to adapt workflows to the space instead
expert advice before finalizing any plans? of designing the space for optimal workflows
• Focusing on current pain points without
You can. Ask your sales representatives how
building flexibility for tomorrow’s pain points
they can help you think through big design
and construction decisions. Some can help you Let’s walk through some critical things to consider
update workflows and your hospital’s aesthetics. and questions to ask before embarking on
A few can provide access to in-house designers upgrades to your hospital.

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 Explore Whole Hospital Design
Several factors drive hospital design decisions:
• What goals and budget you establish
• Whether it’s a new build, addition, or
renovation
• How many people will work in the space
• Whether you own or lease your space
• How long you plan to stay in the location
• How much flexibility you need for growth

For all-new spaces, be visionary. Ask your

sales representatives, industry partners, and
construction experts for ideal designs based
on your goals. See what’s possible, then make
decisions to fit your budget. For example,
not every exam room needs a top-of-the-line
adjustable exam table if most patients weigh less Exam rooms. Hospitals in urban areas often
than 40 pounds. Or, if you’re designing a leased make do with smaller exam rooms. Ideally, exam
space and plan to purchase a standalone hospital rooms should measure at least 10 feet x 10 feet
in five years, now is not the time for epoxy to allow space for veterinary team members as
flooring. well as patients and their family members. To
enhance patient-client-caregiver interaction,
Renovations sometimes come with limitations,
request layouts that encourage face-to-face
but ask what’s ideal given those challenges. Then,
communication during an exam.
get as close as possible within your space and
budget. Exam rooms don’t require much storage. Using
mobile carts makes resupplying easier, and they
can tuck away neatly when not in use.

Treatment area. Approach the treatment area as

the blankest of slates. Focus on efficient workflows
and ergonomics first, then choose designs that
support those functions.

Ask about chase units that provide access to

electrical and plumbing connections as well as
places to mount lights and equipment. Wet or
dry tables can mount off each side—maximizing
treatment for multiple patients.

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 Containment. It’s tempting to stack cages as
high as the ceiling, but no one should be lifting
patients in or out of cages above chest height.
Cages stacked above chest height most often end Workflow. Common design mistakes center
up being used as expensive storage. around creating inefficient workflows. Think
through routines and work patterns to be sure you
Keep the span of your cage banks to about 4 feet,
accomplish the following:
even if your wall spans 12 feet or more, for easier
• Allocate enough space for surgery/dental
mobility and cleaning.
prep near where those procedures occur
Surgery suite. Keep surgery suites simple. For • Allow enough through-traffic space to move
two-table surgery suites, a minimum of 6 feet patients around
between the tables is recommended. Limit • Limit how far instruments will travel to and
storage in the suite to minimize traffic flow from from the sterilization area
staff not involved with the surgical procedure and • Find ways to mount or build in key equipment
to keep the suite as clean and sterile as possible. to free up counter and floor space

Pharmacy. The two most common designs place Decide First. Sign Later
the pharmacy in a hallway near the exam rooms Contractors’ main goals include being on time
or closer to the lobby. and staying on budget. Neither their expertise
nor compensation are based on creating better
Regardless, be sure to include your pharmacy clinical experiences for patients. Consult animal
as close as possible to where the majority of health industry and clinical design experts prior
customer interaction occurs. Avoid placing the to signing with a contractor. Once you’ve signed
pharmacy at the back of the hospital. a contract with a general contractor, it’s much
harder to make changes to design, equipment,
and finishes.

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 Ask what’s ideal given your design challenges:

Is this a new construction, addition, or

renovation of an existing space?

New Addition or renovation

Great! Can you move walls,

Ask to see plumbing, electrical, etc.?
ideal designs
to match your No
Yes
goals.

Great! Okay!
Ask to see Ask to
ideal designs see the best
to match your designs that fit
goals. your space.

The Great Door Debate

Is it better to have exam rooms with one door?

Or are two doors better so team members can
pop in and out without skirting around people
and pets in shared hallways?

Opinions vary. Specialty hospitals often feature

a single door. General practices commonly
use two doors, which often requires an extra
hallway to facilitate movement behind the
scenes.

Practices make their door decisions based on

several things:
• Preferred workflows that drive how many • Daily caseload, since busier practices have
and how often team members come and go more movement and foot traffic
from exam rooms during each appointment • Space considerations, such as whether
• Staff size, since bigger teams may be more there’s room for an additional hallway to
likely to bump into each other near doors accommodate an extra staff-only exam room
and within hallways door

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 Choose the Right Cabinetry
Everything inside veterinary hospitals takes a • How well would cabinets hold up if the
beating. Patients can be unruly, especially when practice flooded from a plumbing issue or
stressed, and clinical situations can be messy, natural disaster?
requiring constant cleaning with harsh chemicals.
Even the highest-end cabinets from local millwork Panel substrates. Ask about the thickness and
suppliers or artisanal carpenters often break density of plywood or fiberboard used. Thinner,
down under the rigorous demands of a veterinary lower-density materials are not as stable and are
hospital. more likely to warp when exposed to moisture,
which can cause the finish to separate from the
Consider the benefits of medical-grade cabinetry: substrate.
• Researched, designed, and built for
healthcare Finishes. Learn more about the surface materials
• Made with easily disinfected materials and used and how they hold up to the following:
surfaces • Frantic, sometimes clawing, patients
• Designed to withstand heat, water, steam, • Cleaning solutions and protocols (such as the
and cleaning chemicals use of power washers)
• Built for strength and longevity • Minimal maintenance
• Designed to support ergonomic workflows All exposed surfaces must be covered and sealed
• Created in modular units to be mixed and to prevent damage from the moisture common in
matched for changing needs the veterinary environment. Factory preapplied,
Base materials. Ask your cabinet supplier for thermally fused melamine, high-pressure
a list of materials they use. You want strong laminate, and thermofoil (vinyl) offer the best
materials that hold up to exposure to fluids resistance to wear, staining, and moisture. Avoid
and cleaning solutions. Look for cabinets that paints and varnishes because they will not stand
incorporate adjustable levelers to help align up to the cleaning agents and disinfectants used
cabinets on uneven floors. Integrated, adjustable in a veterinary practice.
levelers will hold up over time, versus wood shims Edge treatments. Pay attention to the edges. Is
that can break down and deteriorate, causing it a seamless wrap? Do you see strips of banding
unstable cabinets. that bridge larger areas? Beware of square-
Cabinet frame and assembly. Learn more about edged laminate stripping because it can produce
the cabinet frame and how elements connect. sharp, dangerous corners and, when applied with
Metal frames, such as steel, often perform contact adhesive, can delaminate over time.
better and last longer than frames made from Hinges and drawers. Ask if adjustable soft-close
plywood or particle board. Steel hinges and slides hinges and drawer slides come standard or as an
mounted to a steel frame create a very strong option. These features prevent noise that can add
foundation. stress for patients.
• How are elements joined (metal to metal,
metal to wood; with nails, screws, staples,
glue, etc.)?

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 Look at the hinges’ sturdiness too. Do they look
like what you have on kitchen cabinets at home,
or are they engineered to withstand rigorous use?

The quality of hinges and slides used greatly Storage Realities

impacts the longevity of your cabinetry. Attaching
substandard hardware to a poor core can result If you’ve been putting up with inadequate
in crooked doors and misaligned drawers, which storage, it’s easy to go overboard selecting
looks unkempt and hinders function. new cabinets during a new build or renovation.
Prevent a budget-busting storage binge by
Ask about these additional drawer slide details: going room by room:
• How much of the drawer can you reach with • Outline the most common workflows for
the slide fully extended? each room.
• How are the slides attached to the cabinet • Make notes on what supplies absolutely
frame? must be kept
• Will the slide be contaminated if anything there.
spills? > How many?
> What sizes?
Handles. Look for seamless, integrated, brushed
> Would drawers
nickel or stainless-steel handles for your cabinetry
or doors with
that are high grade and not made of plastic or
shelving work
aluminum that could stain or oxidize over time.
best?
Also consider handles routed directly into the
• Think through
cabinets or antimicrobial options to reduce
how often you
cleaning and disinfecting time.
order these items
Infection control. Look for cabinet designs that and plan to restock this room.
are easy to clean and minimize spaces where • Consider where else backstock could be
germs and dirt can get trapped. Carefully select kept in the hospital.
finishes and materials to withstand the daily use of
Veterinary advancements mean that products
harsh chemicals. Be explicit with potential vendor
and supplies will change. Ask potential
partners about the cleaners, disinfectants, and
suppliers about the flexibility of their designs
equipment you use to clean the hospital. Those
so you can accommodate your storage needs
details will help them match cabinet options to
now and into the future.
your needs.

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 Increase Revenue with Boarding
With so many definitions of boarding, no one
really knows how many veterinary hospitals offer
it. Some keep a few runs as a favor to their best
clients. Some offer luxury suites. One thing is
certain—all of the large veterinary chains have
added or plan to add boarding. These larger
chains have the benefit of business professionals
and financial experts who have concluded that
boarding is a smart and safe way to grow profits.

Pet boarding for veterinary practices offers the

potential to approximately double profitability
(with around 80 boarding runs). The increase
in vaccine appointments and routine checkups
required alone can bump veterinary revenue 5%.1
The real strength of boarding, however, comes
from being able to earn income year-round, • How much space will that take up?
overnight, and with practitioners on vacation, > Assuming the average dog run is 4 feet
since the veterinarians don’t have to be involved x 6 feet plus aisles and food prep areas,
to generate revenue. consider a minimum of 2,000 square feet
for the dog-boarding area. Note that this
Boarding is a fixed-cost service that produces
measurement does not include the cattery,
well when usage goes up. Experts recommend
daycare, additional lobby space, and other
planning to break even at 30% occupancy over a
non-dog-boarding spaces.
year’s time, make good money at 40%, and earn
> Sometimes, practices that own extra land
great money at 50% or more.1
build a boarding addition or separate
Biggest Questions building onsite. Otherwise, they buy or lease
• How many runs do I need? land or a building nearby.
> Insiders say 40 boarding spaces is the • How much is that going to cost?
minimum for veterinary hospitals so it > Think of it like buying a house or car. The
doesn’t become a hobby that doesn’t budget depends on how fancy you want
produce enough income to make the work it to be. Prepare yourself, however, for a
worth it. You will want to have enough likely starting cost of around $1 million for a
capacity to move the financial needle. It 40-run facility. Remember that you might be
also depends on how much luxury boarding, able to either borrow a large portion of this
daycare, grooming, training, and other amount or lower the upfront cost by leasing
ancillary services you will offer. But 40 or a facility.
more runs is a good starting point.

1
Greg Taylor, “Adding Boarding to Your Vet Practice” (paper presented at the Western Veterinary Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, February 2020).

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 Design and Containment Considerations
Ideally, work out boarding layouts before
choosing an architect so the walls and other
infrastructure are designed around the boarding
area rather than vice versa.

Sizes and configurations. Plan for a mix of

boarding space sizes so you can better use your
square footage. Think of it as an exercise in
maximizing revenue per square foot. Cats need
less space than small dogs, and their spaces can
be stacked. Small dogs need less space than Privacy. While well-exercised dogs bark less,
big dogs. Dogs from the same family can stay limiting visual stimuli helps as well. Because it’s
together via connecting runs or larger luxury also important that staff can see guests, consider
suites. these options to block pets’ views:
• Creative orientations where runs/cages do not
Maximizing space, minimizing noise, reducing face each other
stress. If you can afford it, set aside several • Half walls or planters dividing center aisles
smaller rooms for boarding runs rather than one • Runs with partial isolation panels
big room. This layout will reduce noise. At slower
times, you can close off rooms and limit cleaning Frosted glass is popular. It’s an elegant look, but
and monitoring. Beyond the footprint, consider low frosted areas may encourage dogs to jump
vertical space and ask about double-deck layouts up seeking engagement, which may lead to
and stacked cages. excess noise, anxiety, and, potentially, orthopedic
injuries.
If you want to offer daycare-style boarding, plan
for more open space for dogs (about 75–100 Kennel runs. The durability and beauty of your
square feet per dog) with smaller overnight runs. kennel run surfaces will depend on the size and
temperament of expected guests. It’s important
Room layouts. Decide if you want runs that can for boarding areas not to look like prisons. Ask
be cleaned without moving pets, such as back- about kennel panel options with nice color, faux
to-back kennels or indoor/outdoor options with marble, or faux wood finishes that appeal to
transfer doors. This two-compartment system will people.
increase cleaning efficiency, and the transfer door
can be dropped during peak times to house a • Walls. Choose between painted block walls
dog in each compartment. or modular isolation panels to prevent nose-
to-nose contact. Block walls require more
maintenance and make future remodeling
harder. Isolation panels likely cost more.

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 • Gates. Tempered glass gates are more
attractive, but they impede airflow. They’re
easily streaked with slobber, and they block
engagement with pets. Gates with bars allow
more airflow and don’t show nearly as much
dirt. You could use both, with tempered glass
at the top and at least some bars or mesh at
the bottom. All you need is one- to two-feet
of grid at the bottom to provide the airflow
and interaction needed. This combination
allows pet interaction below and integration
The Case for Luxury Suites
with a feeding bowl system so gates can
remain closed at mealtimes.
Owners of boarding facilities with luxury suites
• Drains. A rear trench drain is common
often wish they’d built more, because suites
in boarding spaces. They are easier for
• Earn higher rates than traditional boarding
contractors to understand and slope properly,
runs or cages.
but guests share wastewater. Individual trench
• See higher demand from clients—
drains go straight into the sewer and provide
particularly their best ones.
better sanitation and odor control, but
• Sell out quickly and consistently.
typically cost more.

Catteries
Some facilities don’t offer cat boarding, but most
do. Why run the risk of losing a potential client
who doesn’t want to drive to two separate pet
resorts? Cat boarding is actually a very profitable
service. You can house four cats in less space
than one dog, and they take very little staff time.
As a general rule, you can expect cats to bring
in 5–10% of the revenue dogs bring in, so start
with only 5–10% of the dogs’ capacity. Increasing
cat boarding later is easy. If you encounter high
demand for cat boarding, you can order more
condos and easily add them into a room.

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 Consider the Hospital Design Timeline

Step 1:
Dream Big
with Your u Decide what you want u Set goals for how your
to change or add and why. project will support practice
Team values and growth.
u Brainstorm all the ways you
want workflows and protocols to
improve.

Before moving on to
the next step, double-
check that everything
makes sense and still
feels good. As the
project moves forward, Step 2:
it gets harder to Gather Input
from Your u Get recommendations and
make changes in your advice from peers who’ve been
hospital design.
Network through the design/construction
process.

u Finalize your list of must- u Ask all of your professional and

haves to share with the design industry contacts for insights into
and construction pros you’ll how they can help, including any free
hire. design tools that can help you visualize
your space and workflows in new ways.

Step 3: u Get bids, interview, u Before you sign any contracts,

and select an architect. make sure you’re comfortable
Find Your with all your decisions because it’s
Experts u Get bids, interview, harder, time-consuming, and more
and select a general costly to make changes afterwards.
contractor.

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 Install Flooring That Lasts
Flooring requires an integrated and forward- Project timeline. If your project follows a standard
thinking approach. It’s critical that floors and timeline, then concrete vendors can likely use a
drains work together to handle water, animal normal concrete mixture. If you’re working under
eliminations, and cleaning solutions. Plus, even an expedited timeline, such as trying to be up and
though the flooring goes down later, steps taken running in three months, then the concrete mix
earlier can affect conditions required for flooring design may need to change.
to function properly.
Infection control and cross contamination.
Make sure those helping to choose the flooring Floors need to be impervious to moisture, easy
understand these critical points: to clean, and easy to maintain so infection control
• How long you plan to stay in the facility is simpler and faster to accomplish, giving teams
> Shorter term? Don’t install flooring that will more time for patient care.
outlive the lease or that you can’t take with
you. Slip, chemical, and wear resistance. The
> Longer term? Invest in flooring that will last. challenge with flooring comes in balancing
• How various spaces in the hospital’s design cleanability with slip resistance. More texture
will be used, including levels of water, heat, requires more scrubbing.
and other stresses applied While you’ll find flooring products and contractors
• What chemicals and cleaning method you’ll with experience in restaurants, schools, and
use other industrial buildings, they likely won’t have
> Are you putting in drains? expertise on the unique needs of animal health
> Will you be using a wet vacuum system or a settings.
scrubbing vacuum unit?
Flooring needs to hold up under consistent
Project design. Since flooring must work cleaning. It does nothing for your practice’s brand
well with walls, drains, and other elements, image if it looks nice for only a few months.
early decisions ensure that the proper slopes, At the same time, avoid flooring that requires
transitions, and coves are documented in disruptive, time-consuming, and potentially smelly
blueprints. It’s common to use a slope of one- maintenance.
quarter inch per foot toward drains, but for
certain types of flooring, a half-inch slope per foot Bleach can shorten the life of some types of
might be a better option. Such decisions affect flooring, so be sure your contractors know if you
foundation pours and more. plan to use bleach for cleaning.

Trench drains tend to be easiest for concrete Testing. Make sure your general contractor
contractors to install, whereas individual drains requires your flooring contractor to include testing
may require more planning and finesse. Individual in their bid. It’s important to note, however, that
drains are more sanitary, reducing odor and much like clinical lab results in veterinary patients,
cross contamination, but also more expensive these tests only capture a moment in time.
(an estimated 30–40% more than shared trench
drains).

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 • Onsite substrate analysis: Moisture is • Moisture and vapor transmission: This
the number-one cause of flooring failure, test evaluates the relative humidity of the
so flooring vendors need to know what’s concrete slab, including so-called “free water”
underneath. It is estimated that flooring that must dissipate before flooring systems
failures range over $19 million each week. are installed. In addition, tests check water
• Climate conditions: These conditions migrating through the slab. Water tables
include the ambient temperature and relative directly affect vapor transmission and can
humidity in the room. On average, flooring change over time. If too much vapor is passing
products are made to install best at 70 through, it can cause flooring to delaminate or
degrees Fahrenheit and 40% relative humidity. bubble.
Floors cannot be installed when conditions
are close to the dew point.

Flooring Pros and Cons

Type of Flooring Pros Cons

> Provides a short-term fix

> Wears quickly (peels and delaminates)
> DIY option > Is not resistant to urine or chemical
Painted concrete
> Affordable cleaners
> Requires scraping and repainting
often

> Requires sealants be reapplied

regularly
> Is not chemically resistant
> Releases solvent-based odor
Sealed concrete > Inexpensive
> Does not seal floor-to-wall junction
> Does not address control joints,
expansion joints, cracks, or
imperfections

> Requires sealants be reapplied

regularly
> Is slippery when wet
> Is not chemically resistant
Polished concrete > Affordable > Does not seal floor-to-wall junction
> Does not address control joints or
expansion joints
> Is better for new construction versus
remodels

> Versatile for both decorative look

and function
> Completely nonporous and durable
> Requires a higher upfront cost
> Seamless, including junctions of
Resinous coating > Requires professional application (not
floors and walls
a DIY flooring)
> Low maintenance
> Long lasting, with high return on
investment

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 Design the Dental Suite for Success
Expanding dentistry services requires more than
simply booking more appointments. Making Example: Dental Patients and Income
oral care a priority requires developing robust (Year over Year) Before and After Dental
plans for spaces and people. The goal is to Suite Redesign and Team Training
create a strong point-of-care experience—where Dental services income per year (in thousands)
efficient workflows, team and patient safety, and
$186
exceptional team training set the stage for better
outcomes. $44

Implementing yearly comprehensive dentistry

Number of dental patients per year
services prevents periodontal disease from
reaching more advanced stages, which are costly 396
to both the patient and the client. 230

The results, in the first year alone, of a dedicated

0 100 200 300 400
dental suite and proper training and education
can include the following2: n After dental suite redesign n Before dental suite redesign
• Tripled productivity (measured by revenue per
doctor)
• Understand that ergonomic considerations
• About $75,000 in added incremental revenue
save time and increase career longevity for
(in addition to what clients already spend, not
dentistry team members.
taking away from anything else)
• Double the number of patients treated for Ideally, a two-table dental suite would measure 17
periodontal disease feet x 10 feet or even 17 feet x 12 feet. If you can
go bigger than that, make sure the X-ray arm can
Dental suite design. It’s one thing to upgrade or
reach each dental table. Best practices suggest
replace old dental equipment. It’s another thing to
installing two wall-mounted X-ray generators for
upgrade your dental suite design so that you can
maximum reach at each table.
improve efficiency and provide the space to treat
more patients. Effective designs are also possible in spaces that
are being repurposed. A single-table design can
Certain design considerations and elements can
be effective in as little as a 9-foot width.
make treating more patients possible:
• Standardize workflows by using a designated Since team members move in a semicircle or arc
dentistry space. around the patient’s head, plan for adequate
• Consider adding or allocating two procedure space at the head and forward sides of the dental
tables for dentistry. table.

2
Danielle Heberle and Ashley Shoults, “Designing the Optimal Dentistry Suite,” (presented at the HospitalDesign360 conference, Kansas City,
Missouri, August 2019).

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 Dental.tiff

Equipment in the dental suite should include

the following:
• Dental X-ray generator—wall-mount, mobile,
or handheld
• Receptors Dental Suite Safety Considerations
> DR sensor—rigid, digital sensor
> CR phosphor plate Dental suite designs must allow for safe
> Film movement and safety-related distances:
• Software/computer—desktop workstation, • Ensure staff stay 6 feet from the primary
laptop, or wall-mounted monitor beam of the X-ray tube head to reduce or
• Dental delivery equipment—high-speed eliminate exposure.
handpieces, low-speed handpieces, and scaler • Maintain 6 feet between dental tables to
built in lower risks from aerosolized bacteria.
> Available as mobile (enclosed or open), • Keep as much equipment as possible up
tabletop, or wall-mount systems off the floors to avoid cluttering the space
> Lights on high-speed handpiece and scaler and ensure better efficiency.
• Procedure table
> Fixed-height wet table with cutaway
> Adjustable-height wet table
> Adjustable surgery table, not wet
• Ergonomic solutions
> Seating
> Swivel handpieces
> Magnification eye loupes
• Anesthesia delivery and monitoring
equipment
• Thermal support equipment
• Overhead lighting

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 Plan the Pack Prep and Sterilization Area
Before choosing specific design elements of a
pack prep and sterilization area for your hospital,
make these big-picture decisions.

Location. Ideally, the sterilization area should

occupy its own space in a central location that’s
not inside a procedure room. It needs to be close
to surgical and dental suites, but not inside. Keep
it close to where instruments are used for a couple
of reasons:
• To prevent dirty items from traveling too far,
limiting possible cross contamination
• To lower the risk of accidental needle sticks

Workflow. It’s easier to use and follow a process

that is straightforward and intuitive. In the
sterilization area, move in a single direction from
dirty to clean with no backtracking. Consider the
following ideal workflow:

1. Receiving, cleaning, and decontaminating:

Receive, clean, and decontaminate reusable
instruments, supplies, and equipment in one
section of the processing area.
2. Preparing and packaging: Inspect and
assemble cleaned instruments and other
supplies into sets or trays, and wrap or
package them for sterilization.
3. Sterilizing: Provide a sterilization area that
includes the sterilizer and related supplies with
adequate space for loading, unloading, and
cooling.
4. Monitoring: Use mechanical, chemical, and
biological monitoring to ensure effective
sterilization.
5. Storing: Ensure the storage area contains
space for sterile items and disposable items.
Do not store supplies and instruments under
sinks or in other locations where they might
become wet.

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 Layout options. One size does not fit all. Look for building in items to free up counter space. Don’t
cabinetry designs that can deliver configurations overlook the need for enough counter space to
that meet your hospital requirements. Investing in wrap packs.
the best possible sterilization area for your unique
space helps achieve the following: Find equipment providers that can supply the
• Keep staff safe from accidental needle sticks entire instrument processing equipment solution,
and other hazards ensuring the elements work together as a system
• Ensure infection control and cross- for proper workflow, safety, and efficiency.
contamination protections for staff and
patients
• Maintain efficient workflow by having the right Additional Infection Control Resources
things in the right place at the right time
2018 AAHA Infection Control, Prevention, and
Materials and cabinetry. Sterilization areas are Biosecurity Guidelines
wet environments containing a sink, sterilizers that aaha.org/biosecurity
release steam, and other cleaning solutions. Refer
to the cabinetry section on page 6 for relevant CDC, Guidelines for Disinfection and
considerations. Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities, updated
May 2019
Equipment to consider. Map out how the cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/pdf/guidelines/
sterilization equipment will be placed in the disinfection-guidelines-H.pdf
sterilization center, including how to best
accommodate each piece—such as recessing or National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health, Veterinary Safety and Health Hazard
Prevention and Infection Control
cdc.gov/niosh/topics/veterinary/hazard.html

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 Achieve Better Clinical Outcomes with Better Hospital Design

Standardized workflows and efficiencies matter

for all veterinary hospitals. Gaining even a few
minutes with each case adds up. Freeing up time
for just one more patient per day is good for both
pets and your practice.

Especially in competitive markets, a hospital’s look

and feel can make a difference in client acquisition
and retention, but function is important, too.
• Veterinary spaces with good flow and traffic
patterns feel less stressful to people and pets.
• Stylish and functional storage that withstands
the rigors of rambunctious pets and regular
cleaning makes things easier for teams to
keep things moving and stay on schedule.
• Boarding options—from basic to luxury—build
additional revenue streams and greater bonds Good flow and traffic patterns feel less stressful
to people and pets.
and loyalty.
• Floors that look good, are easy to clean, and
don’t reek of pet waste convey a lot about
quality of care.
• Building up preventive dental care opens
doors to practice growth and better patient
outcomes.
• Infection control, sterilization spaces, and
sterilization protocols make everyone safer.

Style and function work beautifully with

collaborative hospital designs that combine
expertise from industry partners and reps who
have a vested interest in your success.

No matter the size or scope of your project, you

are not alone. Reach out to those who understand
veterinary medicine and welcome their help
creating spaces that support your growth goals. Infection control, sterilization spaces, and sterilization
protocols make everyone safer.

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 Established in 1933 by leaders in the veterinary
profession, AAHA is best known for its accreditation
of companion animal veterinary practices. To
become accredited, companion-animal hospitals
undergo regular comprehensive evaluations by
AAHA veterinary experts who evaluate the practice
on approximately 900 standards of veterinary care.
AAHA also develops publications and educational
programs and resources designed to help
companion animal hospitals thrive. Today, more
than 4,000 practice teams (15% of all veterinary
practices in the United States and Canada) are
AAHA accredited. For more information about
AAHA, visit aaha.org.

Midmark is the only clinical environmental design

company that enables a better care experience at
the point of care in medical, dental, and animal
health. Our unique approach to designing all
of our products and solutions revolves around
a single idea: Harmonizing space, technology,
and workflows to enhance interactions between
patients and caregivers. The result of this process is
more efficient care and better outcomes—clinical,
operational, and financial.

© 2021 American Animal Hospital Association (aaha.org).

All rights reserved.

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