Cannon Design Blog

Mike Pukstza, chairman of Cannon Design’s Steering Committee for its national healthcare practice and leading author of the firm’s international healthcare practice policy, was among other architects and experts in the A/E industry who were asked by Architectural Record to share their thoughts on the recent “landmark” ruling to uphold the Affordable Care Act.

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law, putting in place comprehensive reforms that promise to “…improve access to affordable health coverage for everyone and protect consumers from abusive insurance company practices.  The law allows all American to make health insurance choices that work for them while guaranteeing access to care for the our most vulnerable, and providing new ways to bring down costs and improve quality of care.”

Below are Mike’s comments, followed by a link to Architectural Record, where you can view the entire article.

“I see this ruling as step one out of 20 more steps.  The decision helps us understand the direction we are going as a country, but it will take a year or more to really understand what it means for our hospital clients.  Cannon Design’s healthcare clients are mostly large hospital systems.  Many clients are at capacity and need more space, but they are hesitant to build facilities because they can’t forecast their revenue.  The demand is there, and it’s not the resources—most of them have the dollars—but not knowing the return on investment is making them pause.  Regardless, I believe the market will improve.  The types of buildings we are designing are going to change a little bit, but in general there will be a strong healthcare market for a decade to come.  Cannon Design has already started designing ‘hyper-adaptable’ spaces that can accommodate changing needs.  For instance, it has created ambulatory spaces that can later be converted into patient rooms.  We are designing buildings that can do anything in their lifetime.”

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/2012/07/120702-Architects-Industry-Experts-React-to-Supreme-Court8217s-Ruling-on-Affordable-Care-Act.asp

Brenda Onnen - 11 Jul 2012

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