ST. LOUIS-Medical construction, marked in the past decade by massive hospital planning and development projects, has reached the end of that trend, according to the HOK Healthcare Practice in the North Central Region. Notwithstanding many large projects in the Midwest, including the $1-billion Ohio State University Medical Center ProectONE in Columbus, OH, the HOK team said large-scale construction will now slow down for the next few years.

Early this month, Matthew Cotton joined the company to co-lead the region. He joins the 45-person team, partnered with Chicago-based Sheila Cahnman. Cotton left design planning firm Tsoi/Kobus Associates Inc. out of Boston, and says he’s joined a much larger institution. “HOK is a global brand, and they go all the way from planning and design to follow-up and operation.”

Though many MOB experts believe that the new government health care regulations would boost medical office development, both Cotton and Cahnman say there’s too been too much uncertainty in the past two-to-three years to have any projects of size ready to go in the coming months. “There’s been more of an incremental approach in capital investment in the past couple of years,” Cotton says. “Hospitals are more looking to invest in revenue generators, such as replacing outdated beds or surgical platforms. You’re going to see more renovation projects going forward.”