Chris Powers (Headshot credit: Chris Powers)
Healthcare Design’s 2025 Healthcare Design Industry Predictions series continues with Chris Powers, associate principal, director of healthcare at Baker Barrios (Nashville, Tenn.).
Check out Powers’ thoughts on what opportunities and challenges are ahead for the industry over the next 12 months, including why he anticipates renovations to outpace new construction.
Healthcare Design: Where do you think the healthcare design industry will head in 2025?
Chris Powers: The industry should start to realize the value of schedule and start to find ways to streamline projects.
HCD: How do you anticipate the aging baby boomer population will impact the industry?
Powers: Baby boomers will continue to demand improved access and better clinical outcomes from their healthcare professionals. More health education is another area that the boomers have emphasized.
HCD: Post-election, how might the regulatory environment change and what will that mean for our industry and the built environment?
Powers: I think we will see less regulation—things like fewer CON [Certificate of Need]) states and improved interest rates via a stronger economy nationally.
These will lead to more fiscally competitive providers and health systems and a continued focus on less-expensive outpatient solutions that deliver the same standard of care found in large academic and acute institutions.
HCD: Do you anticipate renovations to continue to outpace new construction in the coming year or is there another shift on your radar?
Powers: In 2025, renovations will continue to outpace new construction. It’s simply the number of existing facilities that the industry has to work with, and ignoring these has hurt systems and providers in the past. I do think that over the next 5-10 years we will continue to see an increase in outpatient facilities which will bring the new construction numbers up to a point where they surpass the renovations.
For more insights from industry leaders, read here.
