The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will modernize the fire safety requirements at certain hospitals and other healthcare centers, according to an article on The Hill website.
The proposed fire safety standards address everything from automatic sprinkler systems to the size of patients' rooms and where to store medical equipment.
The new rules come from the National Fire Protection Association and would apply to certain Medicare and Medicaid-participating facilities, including hospitals, long-term care facilities and hospices.
Healthcare facilities that are taller than 75 feet would have 12 years to install automatic sprinkler systems.
"We propose to adopt this new provision because high-rise buildings require more time to evacuate, and sprinklers would very likely allow additional time to safely evacuate a facility," according to the CMS statement.
Some healthcare facilities would be allowed to increase the size of patients rooms to be as large as 7,500 square feet, an increase of 50 percent in size.
"This change allows healthcare facilities to have more patients in a single area, reducing the number of staff that are necessary to visually monitor patients," the CMS said.
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