By Brad Keyes / Special to Healthcare Facilities Today

Q: Are non-patient sleeping rooms (i.e. physician sleep rooms) that are located in a hospital occupancy considered part of that hospital occupancy classification?

A: Well…. There is no occupancy classification called ‘hospital occupancy’. Probably what you are referring to is healthcare occupancy, which is where inpatients are located. So, to answer your question… it depends. Non-patient sleeping rooms are usually physician on-call rooms and they are often located in close proximity to where their inpatients are located. They must comply with Lodging or Rooming House occupancy classification, and usually they are not separated from the healthcare occupancy, so it would be considered a mixed occupancy situation. That means the physician on-call sleeping rooms must meet the most restrictive requirements between Lodging or Rooming House, and Healthcare occupancy.

If the physician on-call sleeping rooms are part of the healthcare occupancy, they still must meet requirements from Lodging or Rooming House occupancy, which means the room must have smoke detectors.

Brad Keyes, CHSP, is the owner of KEYES Life Safety Compliance, and his expertise is in the management of the Life Safety Program, including the Environment of Care and Emergency Management programs.