Seneca Group’s Michael Fischer Led The Panel On Patient-Centric Design At Bisnow’s Healthcare Conference

As healthcare institutions deal with meager financial returns across their systems, they are focusing on “back-to-basics” projects, according to Michael Fischer, development manager at Seattle-based real estate advisory and development firm Seneca Group.

“These projects either focus on high-revenue operational models, such as imaging and radiology, or general maintenance and infrastructure,” said Fischer, who is part of the project management team for Building Care, a 310K SF hospital campus expansion in the north section of Seattle Children’s Hospital. 

Although it has been a difficult couple of years for commercial development, Fischer said he is confident that capital initiatives should make a comeback in the next two or three years as healthcare organizations find financial stability and market conditions present more capital availability. 

Fischer, whose work has also included managing capital initiatives for Seattle Children's Hospital, moderated a panel discussing patient-centric design and construction at Bisnow’s Pacific Northwest Healthcare Conference at the Bell Harbor Convention Center in Seattle on Tuesday. 

Bisnow spoke with him about the challenges and opportunities facing the healthcare construction industry in the Pacific Northwest and nationally.

Bisnow: What trends are you seeing as part of your work?

Fischer: Over the last 10 years, local institutions have been absorbed into larger regional and national systems at a more rapid clip. Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, one of the last independent hospitals in western Washington in a major metropolitan area, recently entered into a strategic partnership with MultiCare Health Systems.

Optum Healthcare acquired and partnered with Seattle’s Polyclinic, representing another instance of insurance providers becoming involved in administering patient care. 

Consolidation has helped stabilize many of the industry’s operational challenges while maintaining positive cash flow and margins. But it does reflect a changing landscape of choice in the marketplace.

Bisnow: What else are you seeing?

Fischer: Washington state’s certificate of need, or CON, model has been a hot topic, as other states have been disbanding or had legal challenges to how these models work. While the CON program has been relatively successful since its inception, it has presented some challenges to responding to current bed count availability across the state.

Larger institutions that operate in both CON and non-CON states may put more pressure on the state to do away with the model, knowing it may open up options for market-responsive solutions that are now commonplace in other parts of the country.

The Washington State Hospital Association is looking at a modernization effort that should conclude next year, and hopefully give the state better ability to respond to the needs of the diverse patient population.

Bisnow: What are some healthcare design trends you are seeing?

Fischer: The design of the patient experience continues to be a key differentiator between organizations, centering on easing the stress and complexities of navigating everything from check-in to handoff between key personnel and recovery and discharge.

The basics of establishing trust and understanding between provider and patient still remain the backbone of care, but it makes everyone’s job easier when the entire journey can be orchestrated with precision from all levels of staff through a joint understanding of the space in which they operate.

Bisnow: What should healthcare system operators think about looking forward?

Fischer: A lot has been done in the last five years on mental health, especially in pediatrics, but there’s more work to be done. While there’s a reactive need for the most intensive mental stabilization units for adults and adolescents, a gradient of care is needed that parallels the spectrum of physical care that most organizations have already invested in.

Bisnow: What do you see for the future of patient-centric design, and how will Seneca Group play a role in its evolution?

Fischer: Building a diversity of spaces to serve the vast range of patient needs leads to providing the best options for everyone to get the care they need and live their best lives.

Facility administrators know that capital projects are intensive, complex and disruptive to providing the best quality of patient care. Embarking on any sort of capital renovation or investment is a long process, with a desire to get things right the first time.

Design-build used to be more of an outlier in the owner-architect-contractor framework for building projects. However, it gives owners more visibility and control to influence budgets and schedules early on in the process when the impact isn’t as costly to the overall project goals.

Seneca Group will continue to focus on driving solutions for our healthcare clients, helping navigate long real estate planning and delivering the complex integration of outpatient and inpatient spaces they need to serve a diverse range of communities and patients. 

This article was produced in collaboration between Seneca Group and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.