by
Lauren Dubinsky, Senior Reporter | October 01, 2018
From the October 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“It’s important for them to understand the impact of the project on their facility,” he said. “Radiation shielding is a function of patient, staff and public health and safety. Depending on the type of project — diagnostic, cancer treatment, cyclotron or hybrid operating room — the requirements can be all over the board.”
Farrell recalled a facility Veritas worked with in the past that gave no consideration in the design phase to the occupied space below the proposed treatment room. The design team was well-versed in construction but since they didn’t understand shielding, they didn’t plan how they were going to shield the public in the area below the room.
“They also did not consider the massive weights as well as the logistics involved in a shielding project,” said Farrell. “This lack of familiarity led to a failure to take precautions for adequate support of the treatment level floors, where material deliveries and future service requirements would be required.”
The purpose of radiation shielding is twofold, and what’s going to happen in the room itself is no less important than what’s going to be happening in the neighboring rooms.
“It really matters if the other side of the wall is a parking lot, where you don’t need to shield as much, rather than if you are next to a daycare center or an administrative office,” said Evearitt.
For an interventional suite or a CT room, the workload is key to determining how much shielding is required. Therefore, it’s advisable to also plan for a potential increase in workload.
“If you are building a new X-ray room and you are not a very busy center, you shield based on 25 exams per week. But five years from then, business could quadruple and you’re doing hundreds of exams per week,” said Evearitt. “With that increased workload, you may then need to go back and add shielding in, and that is always extremely expensive.”
Paying for extra shielding during the initial construction job is a way to save money down the line, while also banking on the success of your new facility and a heightened demand for services.
As with anything, it may be tempting to go for the cheapest option, but Farrell warns that the least expensive solution is rarely going to save money in the long run.
