Developing a System-wide Growth Strategy and Network Capacity Plan

A leading health system in the Southwest engaged ECG to conduct a strategic and facility planning study for its 15-plus acute care and specialty hospitals. ECG defined the future market, defined the growth strategy for complex care at the quaternary referral hospital, and modeled the clinical portfolio for each network hospital. Master facility plans were created for each campus to aid the system in the development of its long-range capital strategy.

In the context of a rapidly growing and highly competitive market, the system was struggling to accommodate strategic growth while also needing to focus on achieving care model efficiencies across its acute care delivery network. The system had shifted to a centralized service line structure to drive strategy across the clinical portfolio, and a coordinated effort was needed to establish demand forecasts over a 10-year period and translate strategic growth targets into a system-wide delivery network model that optimized distribution of the full spectrum of care.

ECG’s initial objective was to develop a sophisticated forecasting model to understand market demand for complex care and for each service line over a 10-year horizon. This model then helped inform each hospital’s desired clinical identity, which would serve as the basis for the development of growth strategy, capacity requirements, and master facility plans. 

We conducted a market positioning assessment for each hospital, established clinical and geographic priorities, and modeled clinical distribution and low-acuity decantation scenarios by service line and sub-service line. ECG worked closely with system leadership to develop the growth strategy and with individual hospital executive teams to evaluate local market dynamics. The resulting plan codified service line and sub-service-line-level growth projections, bed requirements, and supporting ancillary service capacity requirements over a 10-year period. ECG’s facility team developed master facility plans in support of the growth strategy. 

In partnership with our client, we drove a solution designed to enable growth of complex care at the quaternary referral center campus, while also determining that select other facilities serve as a release valve for lower-acuity services. The resulting master plan options included the buildout of a shelled tower with the addition of up to 300 new beds at the quaternary referral center, the rightsizing of existing inpatient units, significant investment in ancillary services, and the removal of an older campus tower. In parallel, the strategy elevated the clinical portfolio for some of the system’s community hospitals, thereby improving access, brand visibility, and strategic growth of the system footprint. In support of this regional strategy, ECG is presently conducting detailed planning for the inpatient and ancillary needs for each of the other network hospitals.