By Healthcare Facilities Today

As healthcare systems work to bring care closer to patients, the role of the hospital campus as the “mother ship” is changing, according to an article in Healthcare Design magazine.

“As a firm, we look at retail patterns and how some of the big-box retailers such as Target and Walmart are locating their stores based on a certain service area or criteria,” Mervyn Alphonso, managing director of development of the NexCore Group, said in the article. “We’ve seen that trend continue with hospitals, to provide the same level of convenience and access to their patients rather than coming to the main hospital.”

Big-box outpatient centers are are becoming more commonplace, but the move isn’t an invitation to just repackage and relocate services into a smaller setting, according to the article. 

“We need to think about: ‘How is the hospital or health system going to deliver those services?’ ‘What’s best for the patient care?’ and ‘What’s the big picture?’” Alphonso said.

Read the article and view the photo gallery.