Seeking emergency care or getting an X-ray typically meant going to a traditional hospital in an urban center. Today, more healthcare organizations are building standalone medical facilities for emergency, surgical or diagnostic centers. The reasons for this trend include more affordable treatment for patients, efforts to reach patients in outlying areas and construction cost savings.
Many healthcare systems in urban centers took financial hits during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic due to escalating costs, lowered patient numbers due to lockdowns and the pause of elective surgeries. Since then, the consolidation of healthcare systems, costs for labor and medical supplies, and demand for walk-in diagnostics and treatment have increased.
These issues are being addressed, in part, by building ambulatory occupancy facilities, which is a classification in healthcare for serving outpatient care to four or more patients who stay less than 24 hours. The facilities are 20-30 percent more cost-effective to build, have fewer structural requirements than traditional hospitals and do not have the logistical woes that come with building in a busy city center. Healthcare systems are purchasing more affordable parcels in outlying or less congested areas.
These centers also expand access to care for patients who benefit from other services within the healthcare network. For instance, a patient may seek care for an ankle injury at a walk-in diagnostic center. The individual may be referred to a surgeon and later undergo physical therapy, all with providers within the same healthcare system. This offers more convenient access, continuity of care and often cost savings for patients.
I serve as vice president of healthcare services at The Christman Company, and about a quarter of our roughly $2 billion of general contracting work this year is for healthcare construction; of that, approximately 60-70 percent of our healthcare projects are ambulatory care type facilities. Most are in outer reaching communities with some near urban center hospitals.
Here in Knoxville, we built a freestanding orthopaedic ambulatory surgery center just across Alcoa Highway from UT Medical Center’s main campus, and we’re working on another orthopaedic facility on Sherrill Boulevard. Company leaders say these clinics and surgery centers offer patients a high-quality, cost-effective treatment option with more convenient access and parking.
It isn’t just a trend in orthopaedics. We also completed a standalone emergency room and diagnostic center at Covenant Health’s Morristown-Hamblen West in Morristown, about six miles from the main hospital. The facility helps address growing demand for healthcare in the area and improves wait times at the main hospital emergency room.
The advantages of freestanding healthcare facilities include offering convenient access to healthcare in outlying areas; reducing construction and patient costs; preventing patients from driving long distances or searching for parking in an urban center; and saving resources at main hospitals for patients who need care over multiple days. We expect the trend of freestanding ambulatory facilities to continue for years to come.