(a) Rooms.
(1) Location; Light. Each patient's room shall be an outside room with a satisfactory amount of natural light.
(2) Outside Door. Each patient's room shall have a door opening into an exit or into a hall leading to an exit.
(3) Inside Rooms. Patients shall not be kept in rooms in which the only means of outside communication is through another room. Nursing and care homes with five (5) beds or less are excepted from this requirement.
(4) Internal Access. Each room must have internal access to the rest of the building.
(5) Basement Rooms. Patients shall not be kept in rooms extending below the ground level.
(6) Segregation for Privacy. Where both male and female patients are admitted, the rooms shall be segregated so as to allow for privacy.
(7) Isolation Rooms. There shall be made available one or more rooms which shall be used for isolation of patients with communicable diseases and for seriously ill or terminal cases. Nursing and care homes with five (5) beds or less are excepted from this requirement.
(b) Floor and window space.
(1) Floor Space. Beds shall be spaced so as to provide adequate room for nursing procedures, and to prevent transmission of infection. The following allowance of floor space is considered a minimum:
Rooms for only one (1) patient, one hundred (100) square feet.
Rooms for two (2) or more patients, eighty (80) square feet per bed.
Care homes may calculate day-room space up to twenty-five (25) percent of the required floor area.
The usable floor area for floors having sloping walls shall be calculated for bed occupancy only for that area having a ceiling height of eight (8) feet and fifty (50) percent of the area having a ceiling height between four (4) feet and seven (7) feet six (6) inches; provided, that at least fifty (50) percent of the total area has a ceiling height of eight (8) feet. Beds shall be placed at least three (3) feet apart.
(2) Window Area. The window area shall not be less than ten (10) square feet per bed. Half of this shall be openable.
(c) Furnishings.
(1) Bed, Mattress and Pillows. A bed, mattress and pillows shall be provided for each patient.
(2) Bedding and Linen. A sufficient supply of clean bedding and bed linen shall be in use and available at all times.
(3) Chair and Dresser, etc. In addition to the bed, the patient unit shall be provided with at least one (1) chair and either a dresser, locker or compartment bedside table to accommodate the patient's personal possessions such as toilet articles and clothing.
(4) Cleaning and Disinfection. After the discharge of each patient the complete unit shall be thoroughly cleaned, including all articles of equipment that were used for the special care of the patient; such articles as bedpans and thermometers shall be disinfected.
(d) Signal system. A signal system shall be maintained for patients to use in calling nurses and attendants. Hand bells are acceptable for use in small institutions. (Mont. Co. Code 1965, § 89-47.)