§ 485.62 - Condition of participation: Physical environment.

§ 485.62 Condition of participation: Physical environment.

The facility must provide a physical environment that protects the health and safety or patients, personnel, and the public.

(a) Standard: Safety and comfort of patients. The physical premises of the facility and those areas of its surrounding physical structure that are used by the patients (including at least all stairwells, corridors and passageways) must meet the following requirements:

(1) Applicable Federal, State, and local building, fire, and safety codes must be met.

(2) Fire extinguishers must be easily accessible and fire regulations must be prominently posted.

(3) A fire alarm system with local (in-house) capability must be functional, and where power is generated by electricity, an alternate power source with automatic triggering must be present.

(4) Lights, supported by an emergency power source, must be placed at exits.

(5) A sufficient number of staff to evacuate patients during a disaster must be on the premises of the facility whenever patients are being treated.

(6) Lighting must be sufficient to carry out services safely; room temperature must be maintained at comfortable levels; and ventilation through windows, mechanical means, or a combination of both must be provided.

(7) Safe and sufficient space must be available for the scope of services offered.

(b) Standard: Sanitary environment. The facility must maintain a sanitary environment and establish a program to identify, investigate, prevent, and control the cause of patient infections.

(1) The facility must establish written policies and procedures designed to control and prevent infection in the facility and to investigate and identify possible causes of infection.

(2) The facility must monitor the infection control program to ensure that the staff implement the policies and procedures and that the policies and procedures are consistent with current practices in the field.

(3) The facility must make available at all times a quantity of laundered linen adequate for proper care and comfort of patients. Linens must be handled, stored, and processed in a manner that prevents the spread of infection.

(4) Provisions must be in effect to ensure that the facility's premises are maintained free of rodent and insect infestation.

(c) Standard: Maintenance of equipment, physical location, and grounds. The facility must establish a written preventive maintenance program to ensure that -

(1) All equipment is properly maintained and equipment needing periodic calibration is calibrated consistent with the manufacturer's recommendations; and

(2) The interior of the facility, the exterior of the physical structure housing the facility, and the exterior walkways and parking areas are clean and orderly and maintained free of any defects that are a hazard to patients, personnel, and the public.

(d) Standard: Access for the physically impaired. The facility must ensure the following:

(1) Doorways, stairwells, corridors, and passageways used by patients are -

(i) Of adequate width to allow for easy movement of all patients (including those on stretchers or in wheelchairs); and

(ii) In the case of stairwells, equipped with firmly attached handrails on at least one side.

(2) At least one toilet facility is accessible and constructed to allow utilization by ambulatory and nonambulatory individuals.

(3) At least one entrance is usable by individuals in wheelchairs.

(4) In multi-story buildings, elevators are accessible to and usable by the physically impaired on the level that they use to enter the building and all levels normally used by the patients of the facility.

(5) Parking spaces are large enough and close enough to the facility to allow safe access by the physically impaired.