Navigating divergent interests in the timing of technology decisions 
By Kenneth Ross and Jeffrey Heyman
A major healthcare construction project offers an opportunity to dramatically change hospital operations and improve current workflow by acquiring new medical technologies. The challenge is getting timely consensus from the numerous stakeholders — those involved in planning, design and construction as well as the hospital’s clinicians and administration — in order to make technology decisions effective.
Proton Power
Advancements in Cancer Treatment Spur New Proton Therapy Facilities Nationwide — Are You Ready?
By Edward T.M. Tsoi and Lindsay (Peter)
Photos by Jonathan Hillyer
It’s been called a “new nuclear arms race? by The New York Times. As proton therapy continues to be proven a safe and highly effective tool for fighting cancer, more and more hospitals, medical centers and clinical consortiums across the United States are working to develop facilities that will allow them to offer this powerful treatment option to their patients. Since 2000 — when only one hospital-based proton therapy center operated in the United States — five additional centers have come online, four are under construction and several more are in the planning stage.
The Rise of the Rural Replacement Hospital
By Laura Rygielski and Maureen Lally
Postwar America saw an unparalleled building boom that touched nearly every industry and economic sector and the medical field was no exception. One of the most influential factors in the postwar medical facility building explosion was the Hill-Burton Act of 1946. As a result, a significant number of the nation’s 2,000-plus rural hospital facilities were built sometime between the late 1940s and early 1970s. Also known as the Hospital Survey and Construction Act, the legislation provided federal grants and guaranteed loans to improve the nation’s hospital system — especially in rural areas.
