E100 – Transforming Challenges into Opportunities: A Case Study on SAC Health’s Adaptive Reuse and Speed to Market Story
This session highlights the benefits and challenges of converting an existing 280,000 SF, 5-story vacant call center into a Clinical Facility for SAC Health, the nation's largest specialty-based and teaching FQHC, providing healthcare services to underserved populations. A first-time Owner with financial constraints and a 16 month deadline to see patients, repuposing an existing office building provided an opportunity for SAC Health to open it's doors to the community at a record pace.
Adaptive reuse offered sustainable & financial benefits. It reduced the impact of embodied carbon and diverted over 73% of construction waste from landfills, while allowing a rapid speed-to-market approach with accelerated occupancy.
The project also came with a set of challenges including the need for accessibility and systems upgrades, working within the structural weight limitations of the existing raised floor assembly to avoid seismic upgrades, and maintaining the operations of an existing ASC throughout construction.
The success of the project hinged on selecting a strategic building type that allowed flexibility and future growth, selecting a Progressive Design/Build team, and working with the city fo expedite the review and construction process. Overall, this case study underscores the viabilnity of adaptive reuse in a fast-paced healthcare market.
Speakers
More Information
Related Sessions
E04 – From Big Box to Better Care: Adaptive Reuse as a Healthcare Strategy
What do an abandoned hospital, a Western store, a 1970s Safeway turned…What do an abandoned hospital, a Western store, a 1970s Safeway turned Rite-Aid, and a Chuck-E-Cheese have in common? Today, they all provide state-of-the-art patient care. This session highlights Ochsner Health’s commitment to adaptive reuse in nort…What do an abandoned hospital, a Western store, a 1970s Safeway turned Rite-Aid, and a Chuck-E-Cheese have in common? Today, they all provide state-of-the-art patient care. This session highlights Ochsner Health’s commitment to adaptive reuse in north Louisiana, where transforming existing buildings into healthcare clinics has become a strategic approach to expanding access. Rather than building new, Ochsner identifies underutilized structures in…What do an abandoned hospital, a Western store, a 1970s Safeway turned Rite-Aid, and a Chuck-E-Cheese have in common? Today, they all provide state-of-the-art patient care. This session highlights Ochsner Health’s commitment to adaptive reuse in north Louisiana, where transforming existing buildings into healthcare clinics has become a strategic approach to expanding access. Rather than building new, Ochsner identifies underutilized structures in established communities, bringing care closer to patients while reinvesting in neighborhoods that need it most. But adaptive reuse for healthcare isn’t just about saving money or accelerating timelines. It’s about seeing potential where others see blight and recognizing that a building’s past life doesn’t limit its future. From a million-square-foot former hospital to a 25,000-square-foot retail conversion, each project presents unique design challenges that require flexibility, creativity, and close collaboration with operations. Attendees will explore how adaptive reuse can serve as both a financial strategy and a community investment. Show MoreClick the title to see all detailsShow More
E16 – Many Teams, One Campus: Fast-Track integration of a teaching and community hospital
Delivering major healthcare transformations on active campuses require…Delivering major healthcare transformations on active campuses requires balancing speed, precision, and uninterrupted patient care. This session examines a fast-track, multi-team, multi-phased project that integrated a large academic teaching hospita…Delivering major healthcare transformations on active campuses requires balancing speed, precision, and uninterrupted patient care. This session examines a fast-track, multi-team, multi-phased project that integrated a large academic teaching hospital with a suburban community hospital on a single operational campus. The presentation explores how overlapping design and construction phases, multiple consultant teams, and diverse clinical stakehold…Delivering major healthcare transformations on active campuses requires balancing speed, precision, and uninterrupted patient care. This session examines a fast-track, multi-team, multi-phased project that integrated a large academic teaching hospital with a suburban community hospital on a single operational campus. The presentation explores how overlapping design and construction phases, multiple consultant teams, and diverse clinical stakeholders were coordinated to maintain continuous operations while advancing major facility upgrades and service expansion. Attendees will gain insight into planning strategies that supported patient safety and staff efficiency, phased construction approaches that minimized disruption, and decision-making frameworks aligning academic, clinical, and community care models. Through real-world examples, the session highlights best practices for managing complexity, mitigating risk, and fostering collaboration, offering practical takeaways for architects, planners, and owners navigating fast-track delivery in active healthcare environments.Show MoreClick the title to see all detailsShow More
E28 – Ambulatory Surgery Centers in Transition: Aligning Market Forces, Design, and Health System Identity
This presentation explores how evolving healthcare delivery trends—dri…This presentation explores how evolving healthcare delivery trends—driven by technological advancement, regulatory shifts, and value-based care models—are reshaping the role of ASCs and influencing architectural responses. The migration of complex pr…This presentation explores how evolving healthcare delivery trends—driven by technological advancement, regulatory shifts, and value-based care models—are reshaping the role of ASCs and influencing architectural responses. The migration of complex procedures from hospitals to ASCs, supported by robotics, minimally invasive techniques, advanced imaging, and telehealth, is redefining spatial requirements, adjacencies, and flexibility expectations. …This presentation explores how evolving healthcare delivery trends—driven by technological advancement, regulatory shifts, and value-based care models—are reshaping the role of ASCs and influencing architectural responses. The migration of complex procedures from hospitals to ASCs, supported by robotics, minimally invasive techniques, advanced imaging, and telehealth, is redefining spatial requirements, adjacencies, and flexibility expectations. Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) are increasingly challenged to accommodate higher-acuity procedures while maintaining efficiency, safety, and alignment with larger hospital and health system identities. As ASCs expand or adapt to support advanced outpatient care, designers are often tasked with integrating new clinical capacity into active facilities that must function seamlessly within broader system networks. Through a design-focused lens, the session examines planning strategies that support high-acuity outpatient care while reinforcing operational efficiency, staff workflows, and patient experience. A secondary focus addresses how building design can strengthen exterior identity and brand alignment as ASCs evolve alongside larger health systems. Attendees will gain insights into best practices and future directions for aligning market forces, architectural planning, and brand expression to support the next generation of ASC facilities.Show MoreClick the title to see all detailsShow More
