In a recent Q&A on the FacilityCare website, consultant Brad Keyes answered a question about suite entrance doors.
Q: Our hospital has two different suites with double egress/entry doors, and The Joint Commission surveyor noted that these doors are supposed to have latching hardware because they are “corridor doors.” However, in my experience, cross-corridor doors are not typically required to have latching hardware. Can you weigh in on this?
A: According to the Life Safety Code, suites are nothing more than rooms, albeit a large room with smaller rooms inside. Therefore, corridor entrance doors to suites must positively latch, because corridor doors are required to latch, according to Section 18/19.3.6.3.2 of the 2000 LSC.
The factor that throws people off is that what looks like a corridor inside a suite is not a corridor — it is a communicating space.
Preparing Healthcare Facilities for Wildfire Air Quality Events
UW Health Set to Open Expansion at East Madison Hospital
Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians Falls Victim to Cyberattack
The Role of Biophilic Design in Healthcare Facilities
TriStar Centennial Medical Center Invests $90M in Women, Children's Hospital Expansions