Robert Gerard of Holt Construction Moderates 2015 Healthcare & Medical Properties Conference

Pearl River, NY, December 9, 2015 (Newswire.com) - At today’s 2015 Healthcare & Medical Properties Conference, hosted by the Mid Atlantic Real Estate Journal at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel, Parsippany, NJ attendees learned that healthcare systems are focusing on population health, helping patients avoid hospitalization and moving care delivery to the most appropriate, lowest cost setting.  Coupled with the fact that reimbursements rates are decreasing and there is a need to increase market share, more and more healthcare systems are constructing outpatient ambulatory care facilities, many with surgical suites, to meet the needs and demands of the growing patient population.

Robert Gerard, Senior Manager of Business Development for Holt Construction moderated a panel of A/E and construction professionals who discussed critical construction and architectural issues for today’s hospitals and off-site medical properties. With an estimated 30 million Americans joining the ranks of the insured since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, Vincent DellaDonna of Gannett Fleming advised the audience that there was a gap of 62 million square feet of health care space needed to meet these patient demands and that need is increasing as the senior (65+) population ages.  John Perez of Cumming noted that while healthcare construction in the US was growing, one third of the spending was on ambulatory care facilities, which can be built at a lower cost than acute care hospital renovations and additions.  The concepts of LEAN construction and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) were introduced by Aran McCarthy of Francis Cauffman and supported by Holt’s COO and Director of Preconstruction Services, Phil Stiller.  Phil and the entire panel emphasized the need to ensure that the professionals and the contractors were on the same page with the owner and all working together towards a consistent project goal.  Lastly, Robert Peake, Director of Facilities, Construction & Real Estate, Atlantic Health System (“AHS”) provided a healthcare systems perspective on all of the global construction and real estate issues discussed, explained the recent 11/2/15 Bipartisan Budget Act – Section 603 – “site neutral” Medicare payment reform and its potential impact on future off-campus outpatient departments and finished by detailing the very successful 333 Mount Hope Ave, Rockaway, NJ ambulatory care facility that was constructed by Holt Construction on behalf of AHS.