The healthcare industry isnt using words like downsizing, restructuring, and/or closures to describe its market climate. As a matter of fact, the healthcare industry in Florida and throughout the country is in the midst of a construction boom spurred by a number of factors such as aging facilities, volume of inpatient stays, increased competition, and advancing technology.
Across the country, hospitals are enlarging emergency rooms, building heart centers, sprucing up atriums or building patient towers at a quickening pace. With bond prices at an all-time low, construction spending at hospitals is predicted to rise from an estimated $18.2 billion in 2003 to $21.8 billion in 2007, according to management consultant FMI.
In 2004, healthcare construction in Florida is estimated to reach more than $8 billion, according to McGraw Hill Construction. Florida Hospital contributed $2.05 billion to the economy of Orange, Seminole, and Osceola Counties in 2002 alone. This healthcare provider, in addition to Health First, Jackson Memorial Hospital, Miami Childrens Hospital, Universal Health Services, Baptist Health South Florida, and Bayfront Health System, continues to keep the community busy with design and construction work in 2003 and 2004 with numerous projects throughout the state.
In With the New
A variety of factors are leading to the boom including aging healthcare facilities. A majority of organizations (60 percent of hospitals and 68 percent of health systems) need to replace aging facilities, according to a recent survey by Hospital & Health Networks. In addition, 61 percent of hospitals and 79 percent of health systems cited improving operational efficiencies and patient flow as an influencing factor.
Patients drive up a palm tree-lined entry to arrive at Health Central in Ocoee, Florida.
In the United States, the average age of plant ranges between seven and 15 years. In general, northern states tend to have older facilities than southern states. Hospitals with older plants may need more capital in the future for routine maintenance and adapting to information technology requirements. In addition, floor-to-floor heights in older facilities are much lower than a typical new hospitals 14 to 15 feet. Revisions in air quality requirements, and related HVAC equipment, make it imperative to host extra space per floor. Existing vertical transportation systems, as well as the facilitys structural systems and grid, can also be challenging when its time to renovate.
An in-house fitness center called Bayfit, at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, provides staff with on-site fitness opportunities.
At Baptist Health South Florida’s Homestead Hospital, one of Miami-Dade County’s first hospitals, the facility was 60 years old when administrators found that it could not accommodate a rapidly growing community. Instead of spending about 80 percent of the cost of a brand new facility to renovate the existing hospital, Baptist Health decided to build a new $130 million hospital with an adjacent medical office building to provide a full range of state-of-the-art services.
The Centre for Womens Health at South Lake Hospital offers a “date night” for new moms and dads.
Flexibility is paramount to allow hospitals to shrink and grow as well as reconfigure at will. At Homestead Hospital, careful attention was paid to making the facility more flexible than the old structure. The universal swing rooms provide the hospital with multi-purpose rooms without having to add on to the structure. In addition, the medical office building, built to the same code requirements as the hospital, can be used as additional hospital space in the future, if needed.
A Healthcare Destination
Outside of Orlando, Florida, a group of business people drives up a palm tree-lined entry to a contemporary, dramatically lit building. They grab their luggage and walk into a spacious atrium with a dramatic water feature and head for the concierge desk. The friendly concierge informs the group that they have entered Health Central, a healthcare facility not their hotel.
For more than a decade, the healthcare industry has been borrowing design concepts as well as ideas regarding amenities from the hospitality market. The idea behind it is simple hospitality equates to relaxation, comfort, and convenience. Todays sophisticated healthcare subscriber demands all of these elements. The more amenities provided by a healthcare system, the better it can attract savvy healthcare consumers.
An open central atrium is the focal point of many healthcare facilities. Lush landscaping and soothing water elements create an inviting first impression upon entering the facility. Patient registry is paralleled to hotel guest registration and patient rooms have also dramatically changed to reflect amenities of a comfortable hotel room. Upscale retail shops provide a diversion for guests and staff alike. Unlike storefront pharmacies and cart-operated vendors of the past, the new merchants offer a variety of choices of essential items as well as luxury gifts and accessories. Business centers host high-tech communications including computer and Internet access, e-mail, audio/video conferencing, telephone, fax, and copy capabilities.
The dining experience has also dramatically changed at healthcare facilities. Dining rooms, fresh food markets, cafes, and coffee houses are replacing the cafeteria of the past, traditionally tucked in the basement of the healthcare facility. Progressive dining environments, located in a prominent space within the healthcare facility, range from a grab-and-go set up to full service dining. Food service in now designed to serve patients, staff, visitors, conference attendees as well as the general public. In addition to amenities inside, the great outdoors can be a comfort to patients and visitors alike.
At Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, the entry boulevards are lined with Canary palm trees and other tropical landscaping. The boulevards lead to a brick-paved circular fountain court in the center of the complex. A public garden, located adjacent to the medical plaza, is designed to promote outdoor activity. The courtyard is accented with three interactive fountains, lush landscaping, and public and private meeting areas.
Customer Conveniences
Todays healthcare consumers want to know more about their healthcare concerns and take more control of their therapies and where they go for treatment. Hospitals are responding to the growth in demand for knowledge. In the United States, the decision-making process regarding an individuals healthcare is moving much closer to the patient.
The growth in information and knowledge is being fuelled by the dramatic rise of the Internet and associated technologies and the increase in direct-to-consumer advertising. Healthcare consumers are able to go on-line and compare the amenities of each hospital. Given the competition between hospitals, in particular specialty, urban, and academic medical centers, a few extra amenities might be the difference between feast or famine.
Florida Hospital Orlando was chosen by Fit Pregnancy magazine as one of the top 10 hospitals in America to have a baby. The magazine consulted a variety of medical associations, childbirth experts, doctors, and women to decipher the hospitals that stand out from the rest. The hospital is noted for its birth day suite rooms and ability to provide overnight accommodations with mom, dad, and baby. Under construction, the Florida Hospital Winter Parks Baby Place will host bigger, better suites, patient and family education, 4D ultrasounds, and concierge services offering specialty dinner menus, baby portraits, afternoon tea, and mommy massages.
A special room is designated for “date night” at the Centre for Womens Health at South Lake Hospital. Candles are lit, soft music is played, and a fine dining experience is achieved for moms and dads following delivery. The new Centre for Womens Health is a welcome addition to area families who previously have had to drive more than 30 miles to hospitals with labor and delivery services in Leesburg or Orange County.
Part two of the series will be published in our September 2004 Edition.
Patients drive up a palm tree-lined entry to arrive at Health Central in Ocoee, Florida. 
An in-house fitness center called Bayfit, at Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, provides staff with on-site fitness opportunities. 
The Centre for Womens Health at South Lake Hospital offers a “date night” for new moms and dads. 
