CHFM case studies
CHFM · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certified Healthcare Facility Manager (CHFM) credential is a professional certification for people who manage the physical environment of hospitals, clinics, and other care settings - facility directors, plant operations managers, safety officers, and engineers moving into those roles. It signals that a candidate can run day-to-day building systems while staying inside the regulatory and life-safety framework that makes healthcare different from commercial facility management. The CHFM case studies are 5 cases and about 4,093 words.
1Behavioral Health Conversion: Locking, Egress, and a Blocked Horizontal Exit
A 210-bed community hospital is converting a 24-bed medical/surgical unit on the third floor of a five-story patient tower into an 18-bed adult behavioral health unit. The unit has two means of egress: the main stair at the west end, and a horizontal exit through a two-hour smoke barrier into the adjoining medical unit.
814 words, about 4 min2Chasing Pressure Alarms in a 12-Room Airborne Infection Isolation Unit
A hospital's 12-room airborne infection isolation (AII) unit was commissioned six years ago to the facility's design basis: negative pressure relative to the corridor, 12 air changes per hour total, 2 outdoor air changes, and no recirculation within the room. Over the past four months the building automation system has logged 30-60 pressure alarms per week.
646 words, about 3 min3Four Capital Requests, a $4.2M Envelope, and a Chiller That Cannot Be Spared
Facilities submits four capital requests totaling 5.85M against a 4.2M envelope approved by the finance committee. (1) Replace one of two 600-ton centrifugal chillers, 22 years old, running R-22: 1.65M, projected energy savings 135,000/year, maintenance savings 40,000/year, and it avoids a 180,000 overhaul already scheduled for year two.
889 words, about 4 min4Which Life Safety Findings Do You Contest After a State Survey?
A state agency survey conducted on behalf of CMS cited three Life Safety Code deficiencies at a 180-bed hospital. (1) The annual fire alarm test record for the past two years does not document testing of notification appliances in nine storage and mechanical rooms; the vendor's contract states that all devices were tested.
821 words, about 4 min5A 14-Day Sprinkler Shutdown Across an Occupied Patient Tower
A pinhole leak in the 8-inch steel sprinkler main serving a 6-story, 240-bed patient tower leads the contractor to conclude the main must be replaced. The building is served by a single riser, so the work requires a 14-day shutdown of sprinkler protection for the entire tower, including the ICU on floor 2 and labor and delivery on floor 3.
923 words, about 5 min