Health Construction Collapses in December
Construction of new health facilities collapsed in December, shrinking 3.2 percent since November, while other construction eked out growth of 0.2 percent (Table I).
Most of the decline occurred in public health facilities, for which construction starts shrank 7.3 percent, versus 2.2 percent growth in other public construction starts. Private health facilities construction shrank 1.9 percent in a shrinking private construction market.
Over the last twelve months, health facilities construction starts have lagged other construction significantly. This suggests health systems are pessimistic about their ability to extract further revenue from the system.
