Healthcare-related construction is at a seven-year high in the Twin Cities, with vacancy rates in existing facilities under 10 percent and numerous projects underway, according to an article on the Finance & Commerce website.

According to a Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq Compass report released over the summer, more than 900,000 square feet of healthcare-related projects are already under construction and another 413,000 square feet of projects are in the planning stages. 

"It’s a shift — from an inpatient environment to more of an outpatient environment,” Camille Helou, vice president and director of Kraus-Anderson’s healthcare group, said in the article.

Projects such as clinics, ambulatory care centers and other sources for routine care are being built at a swifter rate than traditional hospitals and other in-patient care centers, the article said. 

The Affordable Care Act and similar state-level programs are driving huge numbers of new patients into the health care system, forcing providers to restructure their delivery models — to go where the people are, the article said.

Read the article.