Architects and design/build firms reported a 3% increase in completed work in terms of square footage in 1993, according to MODERN HEALTHCARE's 1994 Design & Construction Survey. Overall dollar volume increased by 0.2%.
Outpatient services, expansions and renovations continue to represent the bulk of hospital-based projects.
Of the 221 survey respondents, 56.8% said hospital-based outpatient-care facilities would offer the biggest opportunities for construction in 1994, down from 65.7% of respondents in last year's survey. Some 27.5% predicted that freestanding outpatient care would be the biggest area for business expansion this year, up from 19.2% in 1993.
A total of 2,231 U.S. hospital expansion and renovation projects were reported in 1993, up 18% from 1,889 in 1992. Freestanding U.S. outpatient facility expansions and renovations increased to 337 projects, up 74% from 1992.
The survey includes responses from 163 architects, 27 construction management firms, 18 general contractors and 13 design/build firms. The respondents were asked to report the dollar value and square footage of completed healthcare construction in which their firms were involved during 1993 and 1992, as well as the types of construction projects they worked on last year.
Responses of construction managers and general contractors are excluded from calculations unless noted to prevent counting projects twice.
The largest force behind outpatient construction was diagnostic imaging centers, which saw a 96% increase in centers completed in 1993, compared with 1992. Construction of ambulatory-care facilities increased 13.6% to a total of 351 facilities in 1993.
The survey data show a growing interest in the construction of women's health centers. Some 106 facilities were completed in 1993, compared with 80 in 1992. Some 138 facilities were designed in 1993, up from 120 in 1992.
Architects said they experienced a 43% increase in the number of design projects for pediatric units in 1993.
Retirement communities with healthcare facilities were identified by 5.9% of respondents as a project opportunity in 1994, up from 2.3% in 1993.
Of the architects surveyed, 99 reported an increase in the volume of completed healthcare construction that they designed; 61 reported a decrease; and three were unchanged. Most respondents in other categories also reported increases.
Construction management firms reported the greatest increase in completed construction with a 33.7% rise in square footage and a 21.2% increase in dollar volume from 1992.
According to a survey conducted by Tribrook Management Consultants of 249 hospitals in June 1993, 61% of facilities are involved in construction involving diagnostic and treatment services, such as imaging, laboratory and cardiology. Some 37% are involved in the construction of medical office buildings, while 30.5% are involved in satellite ambulatory-care centers.
Some 36.9% reported involvement with inpatient services projects, primarily to expand nursing units and add more intensive-care capacity.
