This month marks the launch of BD+C’s inaugural Healthcare Annual Report. The second in an ongoing series of “state of the state” building sector reports—the 2023 Multifamily Annual Report published last October—the 2024 Healthcare Annual Report features more than 60 pages of trends, innovations, opportunities, and challenges for the U.S. healthcare construction sector.
Here is a sneak peek of the takeaways and observations shared in the report:
- Even with the rise of outpatient and specialty facilities, mega-hospital projects are not going away. Experts say several factors are at play, including the preference for private patient rooms, industry consolidation, increased care services, population shifts, and inflation. “A billion dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to,” said one expert.
- Patient communication goes high-tech. Interactive patient care systems bring the promise of improved patient communication, increased efficiencies in operations, and greater data collection. One GC said many of its healthcare clients are “aggressively pursuing implementing these new technologies.” However, first cost concerns and IT integration issues can pose obstacles to implementations.
- Trauma-informed design is not just for mental health facilities. TiD was mentioned by several healthcare experts, and not just for behavioral/mental health spaces. Urgent care centers, even entire health campuses, can benefit from TiD approaches like biophilia, daylight, art, protective spaces, and rooms and areas that feel safe and separated.
- Health facilities as destinations? Posh, daylit waiting and exam rooms, higher-end dining options, outdoor eating and respite spaces, specialized spas, wellness gardens, walking paths. These are just some of the advanced design features and amenities that are becoming commonplace in healthcare environments as health systems work to attract healthcare consumers.
- Hospitals make plans for behavioral and mental health. Health systems are getting creative to safely provide care for patients who are dealing with severe mental/behavioral health issues. Design strategies include secure entry points, fortified building materials like impact-resistant drywall and safety glass, and exam rooms that can quickly flex to behavioral health patient use. For instance, one project features hidden garage doors in the ceiling of flexible patient rooms that come down and cover medical gasses in the headwall.
Download the report at: BDCnetwork.com/2024-Healthcare-Annual.
Related Stories
| Aug 22, 2014
Before & After: Hospital upgrade shows shifting needs in healthcare construction
Community Hospice of Northeast Florida took an outdated 10-bed inpatient hospice unit and created a space that would meet the needs of patients receiving end of life care by creating a place that felt like home.
| Aug 6, 2014
25 projects win awards for design-build excellence
The 2014 Design-Build Project/Team Awards showcase design-build best practices and celebrate the achievements of owners and design-build teams in nine categories across the spectrum of horizontal and vertical construction.
| Aug 5, 2014
Risk scanning: A new tool for managing healthcare facilities
Using well-known risk analytics applied to pre-existing facility data, risk scanning can provide a much richer view of facility condition more consistent with actual management decision making.
| Aug 1, 2014
Best in healthcare design: AIA selects eight projects for National Healthcare Design Awards
Projects showcase the best of healthcare building design and health design-oriented research.
| Jul 29, 2014
Blood center uses architecture to encourage blood donation [slideshow]
Designed by FAAB Architektura, the project's aesthetic was guided by its function. The color scheme, facade panel glossiness, and the irregularly elevated leitmotif were intentionally designed to evoke the "richness" of blood, according to the architects.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HDR, and HOK top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
