The rise in demand for outpatient surgical procedures has sparked heightened demand for medical outpatient facilities across the U.S., and especially in the Sun Belt. But current development trends are pacing behind demand, real estate services firm JLL said in its 2026 Medical Outpatient Building Perspective report released March 24.
Here are five takeaways from the report:
1. About 93% of available medical outpatient space nationwide is currently occupied.
2. The mismatch of outpatient supply and demand was most notable in cities in Florida and Texas. Orlando, for example, is projected to see a 16.4% increase in outpatient visits through 2029, but construction of the necessary sites is projected to grow by only 3.8%
3. Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Atlanta, Phoenix, Washington D.C. and Boston were all metropolitan areas identified in the report as having significant gaps between their outpatient visit and construction growth.
4. New York City—specifically Manhattan—was the only area identified in which construction growth outpaced outpatient visit growth, at 9.6% 8.4%, respectively.
5. Large healthcare networks, on the other hand, are actively building new hospitals, medical offices and clinics. Big healthcare systems are responsible for about 57% of the healthcare real estate under construction, according to JLL.
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