Shifts in Hospital Construction Projects

New Survey Shows Shifts in Hospital Construction Projects

February 28, 2011 - America's hospitals and health systems are focusing more on renovation or expansion than new construction, according to a new survey conducted by Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). In fact, renovation or expansion accounted for 73 percent of construction projects at hospitals responding to the survey. The findings show that hospitals have been working to update or replace their infrastructure to better serve patients and help transition to greater use of information technology (IT). In addition, hospitals are focusing on being environmental stewards through greater use of "green" construction.

Overall, slightly more than one in four respondents (26.1 percent) reported that their organizations have building projects currently under construction. About 15 percent of this total involved new construction, 11.6 percent involved replacement facilities and the remainder covered expansion and renovation. In this latter category, many of the additions or modernization projects were for emergency departments, imaging, surgery areas or cancer centers. {continued}