5 Steps to Optimize Your Healthcare Location Planning Process

A miscalculated location can result in an underutilized facility, reduced patient satisfaction, and financial losses. Conversely, a well-placed facility ensures better healthcare access, patient flow, and cost efficiency. Whether your organization is expanding its hospital network, launching a new urgent care clinic, or opening a specialty facility, thoughtful planning is the cornerstone of location success.

Healthcare Location Planning Guide

There are many well-documented best practices for healthcare facilities planning that focus on design and construction. But what other factors need to be considered to maximize your return on real estate investment? Whether you're a healthcare system developing a multipurpose site or a retail-style clinic looking to grow, these five steps are essential.

1. Establish a Clear Vision for the Location

Location planning should always start with clarity of purpose. A successful facility begins with defined goals that direct everything from site selection to operational planning. This means answering key questions around your services, audience, and metrics for success.

Ask yourself:

Services & Specialties: What services will you offer at the location?
Target Population: What are the demographics and health needs of the local community? Do those match the population you are best suited to serve?
Success Metrics: Are you aiming for a specific number of patient visits or revenue thresholds?
Operational Requirements: What level of staffing, equipment, and space is needed to deliver care?
Regulatory Needs: Which local, state, or federal regulations must be addressed?

Having this vision up front ensures that real estate choices align with service delivery, cost structure, and long-term viability.

2. Plan for the Future

While today's needs often dictate site selection, tomorrow’s realities must also shape decisions. Healthcare demand shifts as populations age, communities grow, and treatment modalities evolve. Facilities that are not designed with flexibility in mind risk becoming obsolete.

To prepare for these shifts, it’s important to make the best location decision based on current data, while also ensuring the space is as adaptable as possible. Demographics and community needs can evolve, so it’s valuable to periodically revisit your site strategy to determine whether the location still meets your goals or if it may be time to reposition or relocate.

Flexible facility design is another way to ensure longevity. Spaces that can accommodate shifts in medical specialties, integrate new technologies, or support community-based health initiatives will better serve both providers and patients over time. This type of foresight is especially important given that geographic and racial disparities in healthcare access persist across the U.S. According to research, communities of color and rural populations continue to face higher barriers to care, reinforcing the need for equitable, data-driven location planning (JAMA Network, 2020; KFF, 2023; NIH, 2023).

3. Weigh the Costs of New Construction Versus Existing Medical Buildings

Cost remains one of the most critical variables in healthcare location planning. Decision-makers must evaluate not only the initial investment but also the long-term implications of choosing between new construction and existing buildings.

Pros and Cons of New Builds: New builds offer opportunities for customization, integration of the latest medical technologies, and improved energy efficiency, all of which can contribute to reduced operational costs over time. However, these projects come with high upfront costs and longer development timelines. Unforeseen construction challenges, such as delays or material shortages, can further complicate the process.

Pros and Cons of Existing Builds: Existing medical buildings may provide faster speed-to-market and lower capital investment. Infrastructure such as plumbing, electrical, and HVAC is often already in place, which can significantly reduce preparation time. On the other hand, these properties may lack the flexibility to support future changes and can come with hidden renovation costs.

A 2024 study found that healthcare infrastructure in North America accounts for nearly 30% of total health expenditures, emphasizing the need for careful cost-benefit analysis (Sundarakani et al., 2024). Regardless of which route is chosen, organizations should base their decisions on market potential, operational needs, and projected ROI rather than perceived convenience.

4. Evaluate the Site Based on Retail Real Estate Fundamentals

As healthcare continues to evolve into a more consumer-centric industry, it’s critical to assess sites using the same fundamentals that guide successful retail locations. Patients today expect convenience, visibility, and efficiency—all of which influence where they seek care.

Take a retail approach to site selection and evaluate your prospective site based on screening questions such as these:

Consumers in the trade area: Are there enough of the right types of consumers in the trade area to support a successful location?
Competition in the trade area: What is the existing supply of providers (competition) in the trade area?
Site accessibility: Is the site easy to access? Does it offer sufficient parking and/or proximity to public transit in highly urban areas?
Site visibility: Does the site have good visibility from the road for signage?
Area draw: Is there a strong area draw around the site – which is especially critical for services such as urgent care?

Related:

5. Determine Your Location's Launch Plan

Site selection is only one part of the success equation. A well-executed launch plan ensures that the new facility generates awareness, attracts patients, and begins delivering value as soon as it opens. Marketing should begin well before the doors open, especially for facilities that rely on patient-driven volume rather than referrals.

This is where targeted outreach becomes essential. Leveraging behavioral and demographic data, healthcare organizations can identify key households in the trade area and develop customized campaigns. By using solutions like Buxton’s marketing intelligence, providers can craft messages tailored to the needs and preferences of their ideal patients.

Direct mail, digital advertising, and local events can all contribute to brand visibility. Facilities that invest in strong launch strategies are more likely to achieve early traction, optimize utilization, and build long-term loyalty within the community.

The Bottom Line for Facilities Planning

Location planning is a time- and resource-intensive process, but it’s one of the highest-impact decisions your organization will make. By aligning vision, anticipating future needs to the extent possible while remaining flexible, evaluating real estate options holistically, assessing competitive dynamics, and launching strategically, healthcare systems can optimize for both community impact and business performance.

Related:

How Buxton Can Help

With decades of experience serving healthcare systems, urgent care chains, and specialty providers, Buxton delivers unmatched expertise in site selection and location planning. Our platform integrates demographic insights, competitive intelligence, payor and demand data, and behavioral analytics to help you identify high-potential markets and execute with confidence.

Through solutions like mapping and reporting, site scoring, and patient profiling, Buxton helps healthcare organizations not only reduce risk but also reduce time to market. These tools support smarter capital allocation, improved patient acquisition, and stronger community relationships.

Explore our healthcare-specific solutions to learn more.

References

JAMA Network Open. (2020). Racial Disparities in Access to Ambulatory Care Facilities. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2766043

Kaiser Family Foundation. (2023). Key Data on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity. https://www.kff.org/key-data-on-health-and-health-care-by-race-and-ethnicity/

National Institutes of Health. (2023). Financial Toll of Health Disparities in the U.S. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-funded-study-highlights-financial-toll-health-disparities-united-states

Sundarakani, B., et al. (2024). Challenges and Solutions for Location of Healthcare Facilities. Hilaris Publishers. https://www.hilarispublisher.com/open-access/challenges-and-solutions-for-location-of-healthcare-facilities-2169-0316.1000127.pdf