R05 – Right-Sizing in Real Time: Owner-Led Strategies for Adapting Bed Demand During Active Hospital Tower Construction
Academic medical centers plan replacement hospital towers years in advance, yet patient demand, clinical strategy, and facility aging rarely remain static. When existing buildings must stay operational and patient access cannot be reduced, owners are often faced with the need to reassess inpatient bed demand after design and construction are already underway.
This owner-led roundtable convenes an academic health system and its delivery partners to explore how revised patient bed studies can be responsibly evaluated—and integrated—during active tower construction. Drawing from real-world experience on a major academic medical center replacement tower, the discussion will examine how owners balance evolving clinical needs, aging infrastructure, regulatory constraints, and capital risk while keeping construction moving.
Rather than presenting a single solution, the session will facilitate peer dialogue around decision frameworks, risk transparency, and communication strategies used to align executive leadership, clinical stakeholders, designers, and builders. Participants will engage in candid discussion about tradeoffs, timing, and governance—focused on how to deliver a right-sized hospital that protects patient access today while remaining adaptable for future care models.
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