No one can accuse New York City of not taking the proper precautions during the coronavirus pandemic. Recently, the city that never sleeps achieved its Phase 4 reopening, and now expects to bolster its healthcare with new construction projects.
In a recent report, the New York Building Congress forecasts that total spending on healthcare construction will exceed $9.4 billion between 2020 and 2023. This is a 38% increase from the $6.8 billion New York City spent on healthcare construction between 2016 and 2019.
“Capital expenditures are expected to increase in every borough, except for Staten Island, where there are fewer projects in the pipeline,” the Building Congress says. “While Manhattan is anticipated to lead in total growth, Brooklyn and the Bronx are expected to have the greatest relative growth, more than doubling their healthcare construction spending.”
Spending will increase, it adds, as hospitals and healthcare providers adapt to life post-COVID-19 and prepare for a potential resurgence. “Exact investment levels through 2023 will vary, depending on the distribution of additional federal aid, the strength of the local and regional economy, the financial outlook of individual healthcare institutions and the development of COVID-19 transmission rates,” the Building Congress says.
During the first half of 2020, it notes, existing facilities were renovated to provide care to the large number of infected patients and surge sites were deployed. “In the following months, healthcare projects already in the pipeline will be built, and new ones focused on pandemic preparedness will form,” the Building Congress adds.
