Confidential Healthcare Network, Central Sterile Processing Renovation

To enhance efficiency, reliability, and patient care, a leading healthcare network in the New York City region partnered with Burns to design and modernize a new Central Sterile Processing Department (CSPD) within one of its flagship hospitals.

The hospital previously relied on an off-site facility to sterilize and process surgical instruments. This process often introduced logistical challenges and turnaround delays. With the recent addition of new surgical suites and expanded clinical services, the demand for sterilized instruments increased significantly. To meet these growing needs, the hospital elected to bring full sterilization capabilities back in-house, creating a high-performance, fully integrated sterile processing center.

Burns engineers provided complete mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection design services for this critical infrastructure project. The work involved the gut renovation of the existing space and adjacent areas to accommodate new state-of-the-art sterilization equipment, including washers, sterilizers, and packaging systems.

Given the intense utility requirements of this type of facility, our design team focused on robust, efficient, and resilient building systems. This included high-capacity water and steam service, precise temperature and humidity control, specialized HVAC zoning to maintain clean and dirty workflow separation, and heavy-duty electrical distribution to support the sterilization equipment.

By closely coordinating with the architect and the hospital’s equipment vendors, our engineers ensured that each system was seamlessly integrated into the facility layout, optimizing functionality, maintainability, and compliance with healthcare design standards. These standards include FGI guidelines, ASHRAE requirements and NFPA sections 99, 70,13, ect.

The result is a modern, efficient, and self-sustaining sterile processing facility that enables the hospital to meet its surgical instrument demands in real time—reducing turnaround delays, improving operational efficiency, and ultimately supporting better patient outcomes.