Developments
on San Antonio's
Medical Horizon
The 2005 Profile of Older Americans,
issued by the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, reported that the
majority of older persons have at least one
chronic health condition and many have multiple
conditions, resulting in nearly twice as many
visits to physicians as compared with Americans
under the age of 65. Considering this phenomenon,
the nation’s elderly, now more than ever,
are seeking quality providers in conjunction
with convenient service. The result of this trend
is an onslaught of geographically contiguous
medical and residential facilities that are shaping
the future of the healthcare industry in San
Antonio and throughout the nation.
Recent years have seen an increase in the number
of Continuing Care Retirement Communities
(CCRC’s) that are being built in and around
San Antonio, especially on the outer edges of
the city where rapid development is taking
place. In addition to the greater number of
CCRC’s coming online each year, existing communities
like Air Force Village and Incarnate
Word Retirement Community are expanding
and renovating to offer active residents more
choices and amenities.
“What we are seeing is a nationwide movement
toward a new retirement paradigm,” said
Carlos Moreno, associate partner and leader of
the healthcare studio at San Antonio’s largest
architecture firm, Marmon Mok Architecture. “Today’s senior living facilities are truly residential
communities that provide more choices for
people who want to travel, exercise, entertain
family and continue enjoying their hobbies.”
Considering this more active demographic of
CCRC residents, disease prevention and early detection have become a major focus at
the facilities. As a result, physicians in
areas housing a concentration of such
communities are seeing an increase in
requests for on-site immunization clinics,
periodic medical exams and cancer
testing, as well as opportunities to offer
educational seminars about preventative
and specialty medicine. Moreover,
with on-site nurses and physicians
offering round-the-clock service, the
CCRC model has resulted in a decrease
in the number of elderly hospital emergency
room visits and an increase in
coordination between nurses, social
workers and physicians who are working
to prompt residents to take proper
medical precautions.
Retirement communities are not the
only branches of the healthcare industry
experiencing growth and change;
San Antonio is also experiencing a
surge in the number of new hospitals
and medical office buildings. Perhaps
the most significant and interesting
facet of this growth is the medical
metropolises developing in and
around the city that include medical
office buildings, hospitals, laboratories
and senior living communities.
“San Antonio’s healthcare industry
can expect to see the realm of the clinical
and the realm of senior living converge
more and more in the near
future,” Moreno said.
To address the unique needs of
these developing medical centers, a
number of professional services outside
of the traditional healthcare spectrum
are becoming increasingly specialized.
For example, Marmon Mok
has exemplified this move toward specialization
with the creation of the
architecture firm’s healthcare studio,
which includes a group of professionals
specializing in the design of senior
living facilities.
A bird’s eye view of the city reveals
that medical centers are expanding
into Stone Oak, Westover Hills and
Boerne, with experts predicting that the
next areas of the city to see the emergence
of such healthcare clusters will
be the Southside, where Toyota has
already spurred rapid development,
and the city’s West side. This unprecedented
growth within the healthcare
industry is sure to result in economic
and social benefits that permeate all
facets of the local community.
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