BUILDING MAINTENANCE ALINE NEVES GOMES, MARCELO J. MEIRIÑO, FÁBIO AQUINO, BRAZIL
Efficiency and safety in critical environments
Aline Neves Gomes, Marcelo J. Meiriño, and Fábio Aquino discuss a proposal of performance indicators for hospital building maintenance in a Brazilian context.
Hospital building maintenance is an essential component of healthcare management, especially in critical environments such as ICUs and surgical centres. In these spaces, technical failures can compromise service continuity and put patients’ lives at risk. In Brazil, the reality of public hospitals highlights limited human and financial resources, which reinforces the need for methodologies that promote efficiency and safety. The Brazilian Hospital Services Company1
emphasises that effective
maintenance management in public hospitals requires detailed planning and preventive maintenance, although
institutions often work reactively, focusing on emergency fixes. The study is limited to the National
Cancer Institute (INCA), a national reference in oncology, and is based on data collected between 2023 and 2024. Based on the analysis, performance indicators were defined that can be replicated in other public hospitals.
Theoretical foundation Hospital building maintenance is closely intertwined with the healthcare service chain, playing a strategic and multifaceted role. Its primary mission is to ensure the safety and longevity of healthcare
Aline Neves Gomes
Marcelo J. Meiriño
Fábio Aquino
•Aline Neves Gomes is head of the Construction and Installations Department at the National Cancer Institute (INCA) and a Master’s student in Management Systems at the Fluminense Federal University (UFF). She has worked at INCA for nine years, focusing on integrated management of hospital building maintenance. Aline also worked for six years at Beneficente Portuguesa do Pará, also in the field of hospital architecture. She holds a degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from the State University of Pará (UEPA). •Marcelo J. Meiriño is an architect and urban planner from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and holds a Master’s and PhD in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Fluminense (UFF). An occupational safety engineer and energy efficiency specialist, he works on developing innovative and sustainable solutions, is a professor at the Federal University of Fluminense (UFF) in the Master’s and PhD programs in Management Systems, and coordinates the Center for Innovation and Technology for Sustainability (NITS/UFF). Prof. Meiriño is coordinator of the Innovation and Sustainability Research Group (CNPq/UFF) and the National Congress of Excellence in Management. •Fábio Aquino is a business administrator with a degree from UFRRJ and a Master’s and PhD in Management Systems from UFF, he worked for 12 years in the private sector in the financial and real estate sectors. He was head of the Purchasing Section and the Research Division at the UFF Provost’s Office, where he currently serves. He worked as a public contract manager for the Olympic legacy (2021–2023), taught at Faculdade Paraíso, and is currently a 40-hour professor at CEFET/RJ.
IFHE DIGEST 2026
facilities, ensuring an environment conducive to patient recovery and wellbeing. Hospital maintenance is an essential activity, requiring technical expertise, meticulous planning, impeccable organisation, and efficient management.1 In the healthcare setting, hospital buildings and equipment play an extremely important role, directly linked to the preservation of human life, making them political, economic, and financial priorities for countries. However, a crucial challenge remains: avoiding the intolerable waste of resources caused by neglecting basic maintenance principles. It is estimated that between 25 per cent and 50 per cent of hospital equipment is under-utilised, with several causes linked to inadequate maintenance. Problems in the acquisition of parts and supplies, the shortage of qualified professionals, and deficient infrastructure are among the main factors. The consequences of this reality are serious and directly impact the lives of patients. Inoperative or impaired equipment limits care capacity, generating waiting lists, delays in diagnoses and treatments, and, in extreme cases, can lead to deaths due to a lack of adequate care.2 The hospital building resembles a dynamic organism, constantly changing to meet the ever-evolving demands of healthcare. It adapts to new layouts, technologies, workflows, standards, legislation, and studies, always with the goal of providing the best care to the end user: the patient.3 Studies4,5
show that hospitals with a
high preventive maintenance rate have a lower incidence of critical failures. In Brazil, reports1,6
show that much maintenance is
still performed in a corrective manner, which increases costs and risks. Applying public governance and ESG principles to hospital management allows for the alignment of maintenance practices with sustainability and transparency. The use of key performance indicators
(KPIs) is widely recommended as a tool for continuously assessing the effectiveness of maintenance teams.
23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104
