Health Construction Boomlet Collapses in April

The boomlet in health construction from February and March lost its wind in April. While construction overall dropped at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.8 percent, health construction dropped by 3.0 percent (Table I).

The drop was much greater for private than public health facilities, especially relative to other construction. Construction of private health facilities dropped 3.6 percent, 2.2 percentage points more than the decline in other private construction.  Construction of public health facilities dropped 0.8 percent, 2.1 percentage points less than the decline in other public facilities.

This turnaround after a two-month boomlet puts health construction back on the longer term trend. For the twelve months from April 2015, construction of non-health facilities boomed 4.7 percent versus a decline of 0.6 percent for health facilities. Notwithstanding other factors, this is welcome because it indicates a shift from inpatient to outpatient care at lower cost.