Designing a modern hospital pharmacy.
Cooperation between the pharmacy director and the hospital's architects in planning a modern hospital pharmacy is described. The pharmacy director at an 870-bed voluntary nonprofit institution and the hospital's architects planned the design for a new 3250-square foot pharmacy department. They developed a preliminary floor plan based on the following functions that the pharmacy would perform: centralized unit dose drug distribution; compounding; bulk and unit dose prepackaging; preparation of sterile products; controlled substance storage; outpatient and employee prescription dispensing; reserve stock storage; purchasing, receiving, and inventory control; drug information services; and administrative services. A final floor plan was designed that incorporated these functions with structural and utility requirements, such as placement of the computer system and dispensing and lighting fixtures. By integrating modern material management concepts with contemporary hospital pharmacy practice, the pharmacy director and the hospital's architects were able to plan and construct a pharmacy that receives, processes, and dispenses medication efficiently.