Healthcare Market Trends Q2 2026

For the better part of three years, the dominant story in healthcare has been survival—razor thin margins, labor cost increases, reimbursement declines, and a turbulent regulatory environment. 

Even so, the Advisory Board’s latest Strategic Planner Survey found that over 90% of surveyed systems reported net patient revenue growth in 2025 and 64% are actively growing their capital expenditures for 2026. Health system growth is real again, but the underlying pressures aren’t gone.

Even with this growth, an uncomfortable math is shaping capital project decisions: increased volumes aren’t translating to healthy margins. Among systems that grew revenue in 2025, only 60% improved operating margin. The American Hospital Association reported in March that hospital expenses grew by 7.5% in 2025, while reimbursement did not keep pace, creating a growth paradox in which higher volumes are also generating greater losses. 

The health systems navigating this most effectively aren’t chasing growth at all costs; rather, they’re building the operational foundation to justify it: reduced contract labor, improved productivity, tightened workflows, and higher throughput. As an Optum strategist noted, organizations are now “growing to get stronger, not just bigger.”  

This paradox is not stopping activity. Rather, it is reshaping what gets prioritized, approved, and how projects move forward. U.S. Census data showed healthcare construction spending at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of about $69.0 billion in January 2026, including roughly $52.9 billion in private healthcare construction. The market is still active, but owners are applying a harder filter: clearer business cases, faster paths to activation, and stronger budget and schedule certainty. In practice, that is pushing more teams to validate scope earlier, align stakeholders sooner, and make delivery strategy part of the capital conversation from the outset. 

Technology investment is absorbing a meaningful share of CapEx: 76% of systems are increasing technology spend, primarily targeting back-office and clinical workflow improvements. These investments signal not only software investment but rethinking how changing administrative and clinical flows will impact the physical footprint. These technology needs will make its way to automation-ready infrastructure, stronger MEP and digital backbone systems, and adaptable room configurations in the program. Facilities that design the physical environment and technology infrastructure together from programming, and beyond, will perform better over the long-term.

This is where early alignment between design and construction creates value. In a market where late redesigns, prolonged procurement cycles, and active-campus disruptions can quickly undermine value, owners need earlier integration among designers, builders, trade partners, and key suppliers. The benefit is not just better coordination. It is better decision-making. Bringing construction and supply chain thinking into design earlier helps project teams pressure-test assumptions, identify constructability issues, align phasing with hospital operations, and evaluate opportunities for standardization and prefabrication before those options become harder to capture. DPR’s recent healthcare insights have reinforced this shift, highlighting strategic assessment, program and cost validation, and earlier capital planning as key enablers of better outcomes.

Photo: Heather Collins