5 insights on the future of healthcare from the NCHEA spring seminar

This blog post was authored by Greg McNamara, Business Development Leader, LS3P; and David Swenson, Business Development Professional, LS3P.

Business Development team members Greg McNamara and David Swenson attended the North Carolina Hospital Engineers Association (NCHEA) conference in March of 2026 to gain insight into emerging healthcare market trends, strengthen relationships with peers and partners, and gather insights to help shape LS3P’s approach across North Carolina and the Southeast.

Months later, the conversations and patterns from NCHEA continue to influence how we approach healthcare growth, delivery, and opportunity. The insights that follow reflect what has endured and inform LS3P’s approach in a changing market.

As McNamara notes: “The growth is not slowing down … especially in our more major urban areas,” reinforcing the continued expansion of healthcare systems across the Southeast.

But that growth is not uniform, and that is where both the opportunity and complexity emerge.

Market Defined by Uneven Growth

Healthcare development continues to accelerate in urban and high-growth regions, while rural communities face persistent gaps in access to care. That contrast is creating fundamentally different challenges and opportunities within the same state.

Providers are moving beyond traditional hospital-centric models, exploring alternative facility types and distributed care strategies designed to better align with how and where patients seek care.

Key Insight:

The future of healthcare delivery will be defined by adaptability. Systems, and their partners, will need to design for localized conditions, balancing access, efficiency, and long-term sustainability across varied geographies.

Speed is a Strategic Differentiator

Speed to market emerged as the defining theme at NCHEA.

Providers are competing to establish a presence in high-growth markets, particularly through outpatient facilities and satellite campuses. First-to-market is no longer a short-term advantage; it has become a lasting competitive differentiator.

As a result, healthcare development is increasingly driven by real estate dynamics, with site selection, delivery timelines, and cost now as influential as clinical planning.

Key Insight:

Healthcare organizations are rethinking how quickly they move from strategy to execution. Delivering projects efficiently, at scale, and with confidence is emerging as a critical measure of how systems evaluate partners and advance growth.

A New Playbook: Outpatient Care

Despite uncertainty surrounding regulatory frameworks such as Certificate of Need (CON), momentum behind outpatient and ambulatory care continues to build.

Services once anchored in hospitals are increasingly shifting to more accessible, flexible settings closer to where patients live and work.  Community based is a strategic priority.

Key Insight:

The definition of a “healthcare facility” continues to expand. Designing for this shift requires new approaches that prioritize scalability, repeatability, and seamless patient experience across a distributed network of care.

Complex Healthcare Ecosystem

The traditional definition of the “healthcare client” is evolving.

Healthcare projects are increasingly shaped by a broader set of stakeholders – developers, contractors, design-build partners, and owner’s representatives all play a more active role in decision-making.

This evolution reflects the growing complexity of healthcare delivery and the need for more integrated project teams.

Key Insights:

Success depends on alignment across a diverse network. Organizations that can navigate and add value within this ecosystem will be better positioned to lead and collaborate.

Workforce Pressures are Transforming Design

Staffing challenges remain a major pressure on healthcare systems, impacting both operations and the built environment.

Burnout, retirements, and workforce shortages are driving a shift toward more efficient, flexible, and staff-friendly facilities. Reduced travel distances, intuitive wayfinding, improved visibility, and ready access to staff respite spaces and critical resources help reduce friction in daily workflows. Effective design supports not just efficiency, but well-being; reducing cognitive and physical strain, improving satisfaction, and helping staff stay focused on what matters most: patient care.

Key Insights:

Design has shifted from shaping space to supporting people. Facilities must support staff satisfaction and effectiveness while adapting to changing operational demands.

A Market Defined by Complexity and Opportunity

Collectively, these trends reveal a healthcare landscape that is increasingly dynamic, competitive and interconnected.

Market growth is only one part of the story; the more important narrative is how growth is being shaped by speed, shifting care models, an expanded ecosystem, and workforce pressures.

Organizations that succeed will have a clear strategic focus, strong relationships, and the ability to translate insight into action.

The Path Forward

As healthcare continues to evolve, one principle endures: the need to listen, adapt, and respond with intention. Forums like NCHEA provide a lens into what’s ahead, but more importantly, they challenge us to lead differently in a market that is defined by speed and change.