Section 500. Need for new service

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A. The combined number of inpatient and outpatient general purpose surgical operating rooms needed in a health planning district, exclusive of procedure rooms, dedicated cesarean section rooms, operating rooms designated exclusively for cardiac surgery, procedures rooms or VDH-designated trauma services, shall be determined as follows:

	FOR = ((ORV/POP) x (PROPOP)) x AHORV
	1600

Where:

ORV = the sum of total inpatient and outpatient general purpose operating room visits in the health planning district in the most recent five years for which general purpose operating room utilization data has been reported by VHI; and

POP = the sum of total population in the health planning district as reported by a demographic entity as determined by the commissioner, for the same five-year period as used in determining ORV.

PROPOP = the projected population of the health planning district five years from the current year as reported by a demographic program as determined by the commissioner.

AHORV = the average hours per general purpose operating room visit in the health planning district for the most recent year for which average hours per general purpose operating room visits have been calculated as reported by VHI.

FOR = future general purpose operating rooms needed in the health planning district five years from the current year.

1600 = available service hours per operating room per year based on 80% utilization of an operating room available 40 hours per week, 50 weeks per year.

B. Projects involving the relocation of existing operating rooms within a health planning district may be authorized when it can be reasonably documented that such relocation will: (i) improve the distribution of surgical services within a health planning district ; (ii) result in the provision of the same surgical services at a lower cost to surgical patients in the health planning district; or (iii) optimize the number of operations in the health planning district that are performed on an outpatient basis.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 25, Issue 09, eff. February 15, 2009.

Statutory Authority

§ 32.1-102.2 of the Code of Virginia.