The Rapid Growth of Healthcare in 2017, and the New Style It Brings

In 2017, healthcare construction spending is projected to nearly double according to Architect Magazine. This huge expected growth in healthcare brings with it many new concepts in the hospital furniture industry. Let’s take a look at some of these.

Infection control is expected to rise throughout the healthcare industry. Due to increasing knowledge on the spread of infections, new technology, medical furniture, and overall space design has vastly changed over the years to strategize against contamination. 2017 is expected to introduce new design innovations, especially in patient room light fixtures, to help combat contamination. High intensity lights will be installed in some facilities, as these fixtures kill bacteria but do no harm to human cells. Also, the use of infection resistant fabric will be more heavily implemented in healthcare seating.

“Micro-hospitals” are also a new concept that will be introduced in 2017. These small healthcare facilities range from 5-15 inpatient beds and are furnished with little hospital room furniture with only enough doctor office furniture to fill a single office. These facilities are very small and simple and serve the common purpose of short-term use for patients. Micro-hospitals have already become quite popular in the U.S. especially in the south.

OstermanCron’s healthcare furniture team works with healthcare facilities across the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area and plans to keep their eyes peeled for these trends and more throughout the year. Feel free to take a look at even more healthcare furnishing trends that we expect to see taking hold in 2017.