Healthcare projects continue to see an influx of money.

Unlike other construction sectors, economists do not expect a slowdown in largely publicly funded projects in the institutional sector, such as hospitals and other medical treatment buildings. For example, for the past few months, weaker commercial planning has been driving a decrease in the Dodge Momentum Index, a benchmark that measures nonresidential building planning. 

The institutional segment, on the other hand, remains largely exempt from that slowdown, according to Sarah Martin, associate director of forecasting for Dodge Construction Network. On a year-over-year basis in April, planning for institutional projects remained up 17%, compared to 7% in commercial construction, she said.

For instance, the National Institutes of Health, the primary federal agency for medical research and the country’s largest research hospital, broke ground May 16 on a $630 million addition to its campus in Bethesda, Maryland, according to a tweet from the NIH. Greeley, Colorado-based Hensel Phelps is the general contractor on the project.

Yesterday #NIH celebrated the groundbreaking for the new Surgery, Radiology and Laboratory Medicine wing of the @NIHClinicalCntr. The new wing will enable the discovery of state-of-the-art diagnostics, therapies, and cures for a wide range of diseases and conditions. pic.twitter.com/4QM4OV4iRz

— NIH (@NIH) May 17, 2023

The expansive new wing, known as the Surgery Radiology Laboratory Medicine addition, will house several departments across nine levels above grade, as well as two levels below grade. That addition totals 547,290 square feet, and is scheduled for completion in 2029, according to Hensel Phelps.

The project will also renovate about 82,150 square feet of the adjacent Clinical Research Center building on the campus. 

Other site improvements include a new relocated playground, pedestrian tunnel, bioretention areas, sidewalks, landscaping and a new perimeter security retaining wall around the site. 

Institutional projects such as this one remain one of the bright spots in construction activity this year due in part to commercial projects’ greater exposure to real-time economic changes, such as a tumultuous banking environment, materials price volatility, inflation or other macroeconomic issues, said Martin.

“The Dodge Momentum Index continued to recede in April, due to declining economic conditions and ongoing banking uncertainty,” said Martin earlier this month. “Weaker commercial planning is driving the DMI’s decline.”