UT MD Anderson Cancer Center – Hazardous Drug Pharmacies (14 Locations) 

Michael Baker provided mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering consulting services to evaluate and upgrade 14 hazardous drug pharmacies for the MD Anderson Cancer Center system. The 14 highly specialized pharmacies are located throughout the City of Houston on several MD Anderson campuses, each serving the pharmaceutical and oncological needs of patients receiving treatments from the nation’s leading cancer center.

MD Anderson was upgrading its hazardous drug pharmacies to meet new, more stringent requirements based on United States Pharmacopeia (USP) 797/800 standards. These pharmacies are where MD Anderson prepares chemotherapy drugs in both hazardous and non-hazardous compounding rooms. Michael Baker reviewed all bio safety cabinet (BSC) configurations and airflow, as well as evaluated low-return air configurations, fan filter units (FFUs), air handling units (AHUs), filtration systems, HEPA Filters, pressure differentials, pharmacy control systems and air flow analysis to ensure that the rigorous standards were met.

Going one step further, Michael Baker took air flow readings for all supply, exhaust and return air grills. This allowed us to calculate actual room air flows to meet the USP standards. We also reviewed maintenance logs of the BSCs and HEPA filter change-outs to assure compliance. These findings were summarized on separate reports for each pharmacy and were essential to the design workflow for each individual location throughout the project.