The Glass is Half Full
According to a recent article in Modern Healthcare, hospitals reported $26 billion less in profits in 2008 than in 2007. The biggest reason for this loss was because their investment income sharply declined as the stock market tanked in the last half of 2008.
And, although the equity markets have been rebounding lately, many hospitals are taking steps to improve their performance so they can create more capital through operations rather than relying so much on investment income. Access to capital is also improving, as investors have started to funnel cash back into municipal bond mutal funds.
I’m not a financial expert, but it seems to me that this is all good news for healthcare facility construction. Hospitals are going to need to continue renovating and building new buildings and they will need to find the money somewhere to do it.
It also means that the business case for building a better building is even more important than ever before. By using an evidence-based design process, if you can build a facility that helps improve an organization’s performance, that is a win-win situation for everyone.