The Silent Killer of Healthcare Expansion: Misused Square Footage
The Invisible Crisis Draining Your Budget
For years, hospitals and clinics have tried to expand their facilities, believing that more space means better patient care. But what if the real problem isn’t a lack of space, but how it’s being used?
Facility managers are faced with a paradox: demand for services is increasing, but expanding space is no longer a sustainable solution. Many healthcare facilities are unknowingly making the same mistakes that office space has made in the past: overbuilding, inefficiently allocating resources, and underestimating how flexible work models (e.g., telemedicine) affect real estate needs.
For example, the adoption of telemedicine has reduced in-person visits by 20-40%, yet many clinics still operate waiting rooms built with pre-pandemic foot traffic in mind. Wasted real estate is costing healthcare providers up to 25% more in operational expenses.
The real problem isn’t lack of space—it’s misaligned space.
Where Is Your Square Footage Bleeding Value?
In the corporate world, office portfolios have faced a global challenge of occupancy inefficiencies with entire floors that sat almost empty, booked conference rooms which indeed were never used, and employees weren’t coming in at expected rates. The healthcare industry now faces the same thread.
Hospitals and clinics are increasingly investing in larger facilities, yet Basking’s occupancy heatmaps and real-time workplace analytics —originally developed for office portfolios—show that much of this space remains underutilized.
Key problem areas include:
- Ghost waiting rooms: Designed for peak volumes (e.g., Monday mornings), those oversized zones sit empty 60–70% of the time.
- Understaffed or low-traffic departments: Certain wings and labs may be fully equipped but underutilized, driving up operational costs.
- Legacy layouts: Outdated floor plans force nurses to walk an extra 2.5 miles per shift (HIMSS data)—the equivalent of 45 lost minutes.
The “Just-in-Case” Trap
Hospitals tend to build surplus capacity for hypothetical crises, locking capital into rarely used wings. But inflexible designs can’t adapt to real emergencies, like seasonal flu surges or aging populations.
What Healthcare Can Learn from Office Space Mistakes
Actual occupancy data of office buildings revealed the unspoken truth: bigger spaces didn’t translate to better operations—smarter use of space did. The equation perfectly applies to healthcare real estate.
By leveraging real-time space utilization data, hospitals and clinics:
- Optimize layouts to ensure high-traffic areas are prioritized and underused spaces are reallocated.
- Right-size expansions by proving whether additional square footage is necessary.
- Improve efficiency by aligning room availability with peak usage times, reducing bottlenecks.
- Adapt to telehealth trends, reducing the need for physical consultations and maximizing digital workflows.
Why Basking? We Speak Healthcare, Not Just Real Estate
Basking’s advanced occupancy analytics provide the same level of real-time insights that transformed office spaces—now tailored for hospitals, clinics, and healthcare systems. Understanding patient flow, staffing patterns, and room utilization can mean the difference between unnecessary expansion and streamlined, cost-effective operations.
Basking’s platform is built for healthcare’s unique challenges:
Enterprise-Grade Security: Track patient and staff movement without compromising privacy.
Seamless integration: Leverage your existing WiFi infrastructure to get data takes a few hours.
Tailored Solutions: As every organization is unique; every layout requires unique solution set to meet its specific needs.
The Next Step
Before breaking ground on new healthcare facilities, decision-makers should ask: Are we making the most of the space we already have? Contact us to find out.
Take control of your facility’s real estate strategy
Take the first step toward smarter, more efficient spaces.
