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Abstract
The space required for a modern hospital central process department (CPD) is 10 net square feet per bed. In the aseptic process, 2 potential problems arise involving: 1. the movement of clean and sterile supplies horizontally and vertically to and from surgery and their prompt return so that they can be recycled, and 2. the territorial invasion by the CPD of responsibilities that could be considered the province of the operating room (OR). Designing a hospital with a better understanding of the required commerce with the various methods of distribution would place the OR in the area above the CPD so that supply lifts could move between the 2 departments and eliminate horizontal movement, elevator congestion, and the labor required for distribution. The materiel management system needs to be considered as 3 subsystems: inventory management, processing, and distribution.