Ochsner Health System doesn’t plan to build more traditional large-scale hospitals, CEO and President Warner Thomas tells The Wall Street Journal.
Instead, Ochsner—Louisiana’s largest nonprofit academic health system—is spending 80% of its capital expenditures on outpatient clinics.
In Baton Rouge, the health care system is building a $100 million complex, anchored by a medical office building with primary care as well as diagnostic and specialty clinics. An attached 10-bed inpatient hospital and surgical center will offer procedures such as knee replacements requiring stays of 24 hours or less.
The project represents a national shift away from the traditional inpatient hospital care model, WSJ reports. Nationally, more health care providers are investing in outpatient clinics, same-day surgery centers, freestanding emergency rooms and microhospitals offering as few as eight beds for overnight stays. They’re also setting up programs that track people 24/7 in their own homes.
Economics are driving the investments as traditional hospital care is too costly and inefficient for many medical issues. Another factor: changing patient preferences for how they get care and a national focus on more prevention and wellness.
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