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Building Congress: NYC Must Update Land-Use Rules for Healthcare Construction
New York City needs to modernize the land-use and regulatory processes that govern healthcare and life sciences construction, the New York Bulding Congress (NYBC) said in a new report, “Building a Healthier Five Boroughs: The Infrastructure Behind Better Health and Economic Growth.” It argues that healthcare construction is essential infrastructure, and the modernization of existing hospitals is not optional.
The report notes that a patient room built to today’s standards is more than 200% larger than its 20th-century predecessor. Operating rooms have grown 70%. Add modern HVAC, infection control, backup power, resiliency systems, and the same number of beds now requires far more building. However, the city’s land-use rules still treat hospitals largely as they did in 1961.
“Our city’s great healthcare industry can’t be expected to provide its unmatched services forever in buildings built before Medicare existed,” said Carlo A. Scissura, Esq., president and CEO of the NYBC. “New York has shown it knows how to modernize the rules when the need is clear. We did it for housing. We did it for life sciences. We can do it for healthcare.”
- ◦Development
