WSSHE News and Issues
Gov. Chris Gregoire signs SB 6710 20080325-6564 on March
25, 2008
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Senate Bill (SB) 6710 ensures coordination between fire/life safety surveys by the fire marshal and the Washington State Department of Health’s licensing surveys and creates
a reasonable set of surveying standards.
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March 27, 2008
Attention: Retraction of USP 797 revision information
Dear WSSHE Membership,
On March 11th of this year WSSHE sent to your attention an emergency information
release titled "USP 797: New requirements for Pharmacy Clean Rooms". We
proceeded to state- Please be aware that USP 797 will become effective June 1,
2008 in Washington State. Knowing the sensitivity towards this issue and the
advocacy efforts to advise against adoption of this standard by many of us at
the local and national level for no less than the last 24 months, the WSSHE
advocacy committee was able request a special meeting with Brenda Suiter, Vice
President for the Washington State Hospital Association, Steven Saxe, Director -
Facility and Services Licensing, and Grant Chester, Supervisor with the
Washington State Board of Pharmacy.
In this meeting all four organizations were able to clarify their positions with
regard to USP 797 and following are updates from the meeting with the state,
communications with ASHE, and information from your advocacy committee:
• Washington State will not be enforcing the environmental
controls chapter from USP 797 unless mandated by the federal government. If
mandated we (WSSHE, WSHA, DOH, and State Board of Pharmacy) will work
collaboratively towards a model that meets the needs of Washington State
hospitals and the communities we all serve.
• ASHE has informed us that The Joint Commission, CMS, and the FDA will not be
surveying to the revised USP 797. We will advise you if this status changes.
• If you are planning a major renovation or new construction you should plan for
future integration of the standards. We are not saying that USP 797 is a dead
revision, only that there is enough debate taking place with regard to how it
was developed that WSSHE feels comfortable in advising our membership to ‘hold
off ’ but ‘be prepared’. Our reasons for not supporting this revision are sound
and we will be posting a position paper for your review on the WSSHE website
this week.
• We have been successful asking the State agencies to listen, support, and
address our concerns with regards to enforcement of the environmental controls
chapter but they can only support us to the point of time when the Feds mandate
enforcement. At this time WSSHE will be offering any and all advocacy support
that ASHE may need to keep this issue resolution active at the national level.
If asked, and I assume we will, be prepared to engage your administrator about
this revision. We will need your support and the support of your organization if
we are to ensure a permanent moratorium on this issue.
I want to thank you in advance for your support and encourage you to reach out
to us with any questions you may have. See you in Chelan.
Regards,
Stephen J. Grose, CHFM
Advocacy Committee Chair
Washington State Society for Healthcare Engineering
925 Seneca Street
Seattle Washington 98101
206-288-9225
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Tacoma General and Mary Bridge Hospitals earn ENERGY STAR Award
Tacoma General and the
Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital have earned the
ENERGY STAR designation for their commitment to energy efficiency. The ENERGY STAR is presented for superior energy performance for the most efficient buildings in the nation
“This ENERGY STAR recognizes our approach to energy management design and systems operation”, said Ray Tiedemann Engineering Manager for the Central region of
MultiCare.
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Beebe Receives ASHE Award
Washington State Department of Health Manager Chad E. Beebe, AIA to receive
prestigious award from the American Society of Healthcare Engineers (ASHE). This
prominent award recognizes 10 exceptional individuals, one from each ASHE
Region, for their exemplary leadership skills and their commitment to the field
of healthcare facilities management through their local and/or national
involvement with ASHE. Chad Beebe, a licensed Architect and Certified Fire
Protection Specialist is actively involved nationally with the National Fire
Protection Association as secretary of the Healthcare Section Codes and
Standards Review Committee, NFPA 99 - Technical Correlating Committee and NFPA
101A – Technical Committee on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety. Chad is an
active Steering Committee member with the Health Guidelines Revision Committee
which produces The Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care
Facilities.
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