Bon Secours is also planning a three-story, 55,000 square-foot mixed-use medical office building, with construction slated to be finished in late 2020; a 90,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery and medical office facility at its St. Francis campus, with building to start in early 2019; and a 25,000 square-foot outpatient facility at Richmond Community Hospital with construction to start in 2019.

Two reasons for the healthcare building surge: growth in residential housing along Route 288 and residents growing older, he noted.

In addition, hospitals are looking to expand into more community-based facilities to better address consumer interest in convenience and proximity for care.

Such projects include efforts by Bon Secours and Petersburg-based Southside Regional Medical Center to locate imaging facilities in the Chesterfield area.

“This will be a lower-cost option for imaging services for not only Chester residents but the entire South Chesterfield/Tri-Cities area,” said Brandon Seier, spokesman for Southside Regional Medical Center told the paper.

In December, 2017, Healthcare architecture firm E4H Environments for Health Architecture, released seven predictions for healthcare facility design trends in 2018, which should continue into the future.

“From Emergency Departments to microhospitals, to the amenities in, and locations of, hospitals, the year ahead will see continued changes in how healthcare providers are designing and equipping their facilities to meet both patient and market needs,” said Jason Carney, AIA, E4H Partner at the time. “Add in the pressures of rapidly evolving regulations and payment models, and healthcare design has never been more dynamic than it is now.”

Their seven top design trends were:

• Behavioral Health drives Emergency Department reconfigurations – The opioid crisis and more recognition of mental health conditions are driving hospital design, especially in the ER, to promote safety for both patients and others.
• Virtual Reality is becoming a critical planning tool for hospital design – Being able to use VR headsets to see space in 3D is improving facility design and safety.
• Microhospitals are growing, and now in 19 states in the U.S. – giving more accessibility and convenience to residents.
• Make space for telehealth – an increasingly integral part of healthcare requires installations of patient monitors and communications platforms, including video conference rooms and the like.
• Hospitals are taking cues from the hospitality industry – Moving outpatient care from big hospitals to more consumer-friendly environments can boost operating efficiencies.
• Moving to malls – more same-day procedures and services will be moving from hospitals to retail locations
• Acute care needs growing – Hospitals will see growth of inpatient days as Boomers age.

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