ASHE Financial Stewardship 2

Question 1

A healthcare facility's total maintenance budget is $4.2 million and the replacement asset value (RAV) is $140 million.
What is the maintenance spending ratio, and is it within the ASHE-recommended range?

Accepted Answer

3% — within the recommended 2–4% range

Answer

2% — below the recommended 3–4% range

Answer

3% — within the recommended 3–5% range

Answer

4% — above the recommended 2–3% range

Question 2

Which financial metric best measures the actual cost-effectiveness of a preventive maintenance program over a 12-month period?

Accepted Answer

Ratio of corrective to preventive maintenance labor hours

Answer

Gross square footage per maintenance technician

Answer

Total deferred maintenance backlog value

Answer

Energy use intensity (EUI) compared to prior year

Question 3

When preparing a five-year capital equipment replacement plan, which data source is most critical for prioritizing purchases?

Accepted Answer

Facility condition assessment (FCA) scores and equipment age

Answer

Vendor sales catalogs and list pricing

Answer

Staff preference surveys and department wish lists

Answer

Prior-year budget actuals only

Question 4

A health care facility is evaluating whether to outsource biomedical equipment maintenance. Which financial analysis should be conducted first?

Accepted Answer

Total cost of ownership comparison between in-house and contracted services

Answer

Net present value (NPV) of buying new equipment

Answer

Depreciation schedule for existing biomedical assets

Answer

Calculation of the facility's debt-to-equity ratio

Question 5

Under GAAP, how should a major HVAC system replacement that extends the useful life of a building be recorded on financial statements?

Accepted Answer

Capitalized as a fixed asset and depreciated over its useful life

Answer

Operating expense in the period incurred

Answer

Recorded as a contra-liability against long-term debt

Answer

Expensed immediately as a maintenance cost

Question 6

Which approach most effectively reduces a facility's deferred maintenance backlog without requiring a single large capital outlay?

Accepted Answer

Implementing a phased multi-year funding model tied to facility condition index (FCI) targets

Answer

Eliminating preventive maintenance tasks to free up labor for backlog repairs

Answer

Transferring deferred items to the operating budget each quarter

Answer

Outsourcing all maintenance to reduce internal labor costs

Question 7

A hospital CFO asks the facilities director to justify a $500,000 investment in building automation system (BAS) upgrades. Which financial justification metric is most persuasive?

Accepted Answer

Simple payback period based on projected annual energy savings

Answer

Increase in gross square footage managed per FTE

Answer

Reduction in staff overtime hours

Answer

Improvement in Joint Commission survey scores