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There's good news on the horizon for the construction industry.
By 2019, via the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, approximately 32 million additional Americans will be covered by health insurance. Also, during the next decade, the population of Americans age 65 and older will expand by more than 35 percent.
With demand for medical services poised to increase, more space will be needed to provide them. However, most new construction is not expected to be traditional mega hospitals, but rather smaller offices in locations convenient for patients.
For instance, Physicians' Capital Investments, which develops medical office buildings nationwide, is constructing an 11,000-square-foot facility at the Port of Portland's Gresham Vista Business Park.
"The day of the individual, stand-alone practitioner is fading away slowly but surely, and doctors and dentists are forming together in groups," said Chris Morris, a project manager for PCI. "That's one trend that's going on that's driving new facilities."
CPI is constructing the Gresham building for Fresenius Medical Care, a major provider of kidney dialysis services. The building itself, however, will be owned by the physicians who work there.
CPI purchased the 2.79-acre property for $1 million, and will sell it once construction is complete. That's CPI's bread-and-butter model - one that Morris expects to excel amid demographic trends regarding baby boomers, population growth...