Construction slowdown could be on the horizon

Despite 2007 being a strong year for healthcare construction--with 3,552 projects totaling $35.4 billion--the business has slowed down marginally since October, and looks like it will continue its downward spiral. Robert Levine, senior vice president of New York-based Turner Construction's healthcare division, believes that "jobs are starting to get a little smaller or pushed back." Regardless, Levine and Jim Haughey, chief economist for Reed Construction Data, think that healthcare is one of the more stable construction industries (while construction starts for healthcare were down 3.6 percent from January 2007 to this past January, construction starts in all other industries were down 13 percent). "There will be some more weakening," Haughey said. "But, with healthcare, most of the money is already in place. They don't have to go borrow it from Wall Street."

For more information:
- read the Modern Healthcare article

Related Articles:
Hospital building boom leaves inner cities behind. Report
Hospital construction costs skyrocket. Report
Hospital, clinic construction starts down. Read
Building momentum for healthcare facilities. Article
Examining the hospital building boom. Editorial