Take 5 With Swinerton’s Carly Morris
In this series, Healthcare Design asks leading healthcare design professionals, firms, and owners to tell us what interests them and share their ideas. Carly Morris, Healthcare Market Lead, shares her thoughts.
- Impact of CON changes on behavioral health design
The need for behavioral health beds has increased significantly, driven by rising mental health problems, population growth, COVID-19, the opioid crisis, and reduced stigmatization surrounding mental health. While Certificate of Need (CON) regulations help ensure quality and strategic planning, control cost, and coordinate resource allocation, they can also restrict access and availability, limit competition, slow the response to emerging needs, and become a barrier to entry for healthcare systems.
Over one-third of U.S. states have CON requirements of various types, but that’s starting to change. Recently, North Carolina and South Carolina reformed their CON programs that affect what healthcare facilities can be built or expanded, affecting patient access to care and the cost of care.
The Carolinas’ revisions are sparking change across the country, with states like Kentucky, Alaska, Vermont, and Minnesota currently reforming their regulations.
This trend is driving new behavioral health groups to enter the region due to the reduced barriers of entry and the opportunity to meet the demand for more new facilities.
With the recent reforms, the Carolinas are now ready to embrace partnerships that can address behavioral health needs and, in turn, decrease patient costs. Will other states continue to follow suit?
