Objective is to support decision making in the layout of a new multidiscipline facility with approx. 25 operating rooms (OR's). Main focus lies on the question whether to work with separate rooms for preparation/induction of the patient or to do these procedures in the OR. Method is an information process by the observation of work procedures and expert-user interviews in the university hospitals in Switzerland (Zurich, Bern, Lausanne), Belgium (Leuven) and USA (MAYO-Medical Center/Rochester).

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... he interviews were carried out with the VALAMO (variable layout model) and the user's statements are structured in a database called MEDINO (management, ergonomics and design information for organisations). In contrast to the Swiss hospitals (6-8 OR's, induction rooms, no central holding areas), the MAYO-Clinic (45 OR's) as well as the hospital in Leuven (16 OR's) have central holding areas, an integrated post anaesthesia care unit. Both hospitals had induction rooms which are no longer in use due to cost constraints. The hospital in Leuven shows an efficient work in small teams (no nurse anaesthetists) and an OR layout which facilitates the organisation.