American healthcare is in the most innovative period in its history, and yet the built environment required to deliver that care has fallen materially behind. National health expenditures are on track to surpass $8.6 trillion by 2033, the 80+ population grows 55% by 2035, and outpatient volumes are projected to expand 10.6% over the next five years. Meanwhile, senior living construction sits at a 13-year low, nearly 60% of tracked markets have zero new development underway, and new medical outpatient rents are running 38% above in-place rents, a signal that new supply cannot be built economically at scale.
This first paper, Healthcare Built Space: Infrastructure for an Inevitable Future, maps the structure of the U.S. healthcare system, the trends reshaping where and how care is delivered, and the widening gap between demographic demand and the physical capacity available to meet it.