Speech privacy is the first requirement. A consulting room next to a waiting area needs enough separation that a conversation is not intelligible through the wall — which is a different target from stopping music. Speech intelligibility is carried mostly in the 500–2000 Hz band, so a wall tuned for that range is more useful than one with a higher single-number rating built on low-frequency mass.
Services come second and they conflict with the first. Medical gas, data, nurse call and power all need to reach the wall, and every penetration is a potential leak. The design answer is a service cavity: cables and small pipes run inside the wall on a separated layer, boxes are set into the cavity rather than cut into the acoustic board, and any penetration through the acoustic layer is sealed with an approved detail.
Impact and hygiene add two more constraints. The wall takes trolleys and beds, so the lower 1 m needs reinforcement or a protective profile, and the surface needs to be cleanable without a joint that traps dirt. A clipped board with a sealed joint satisfies both, provided the seal is continuous at the floor line.
The practical specification for a hospital room partition is therefore a system: 122 mm double-cavity frame, mineral wool fill, acoustic board, service separation, sealed penetrations, reinforcement at openings, and a finish that can be wiped. Specifying the board alone, and leaving the rest to the contractor, is how hospitals end up with walls that look right and sound wrong.