In health care, real estate strategy is about more than just buildings. It’s about shaping experiences for patients, providers and staff. In this episode of Industry Insights with Cheryl, Cheryl Dalton-Norman, president of Conduit Health Partners, sits down with Stevie Bander, managing director of Healthcare Consulting at CBRE, to explore how thoughtful facility design, technology planning and stakeholder engagement can drive better outcomes across the board. Whether you’re planning a new site or optimizing existing spaces, this conversation offers practical insights for leaders at every level.
Full transcript:
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Well, Hello, everyone. I’m Cheryl Dalton, Norman with industry insights with Cheryl. And I’m very excited today to have Stevie Bander from Cbre with me, and Stevie is the managing director for healthcare, consulting for Cbre. And I’m super excited to talk about healthcare real estate today.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: In the past we’ve talked about human resources. We’ve talked about it. We’ve talked about AI. We’ve talked about revenue cycle, but the criticality of the facilities in which we care
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: for people is really really important, and I think a lot of healthcare executives can benefit from understanding much more about why that’s so important. So.
Stevie Bander: Sure.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Stevie would love for you to maybe introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about you, and then a little bit about what you do with Cbre, and why real estate is so important to healthcare and to leaders making good decisions in healthcare.
Stevie Bander: Perfect. Thank you. Cheryl, really appreciate being here this morning. So again, Stevie Bandar, I lead our healthcare, consulting practice here at Cbre, and so within our practice, we focus really on 3 main elements of delivery of service. One would be portfolio strategy. So, looking at your facilities both in the ambulatory and in the acute environment to make sure that they adhere to brand standards, they are being heavily utilized, based on the capacity within those physical structures, and then also making sure that you are in the right location from market sustainability, perspective. And so that’s been a really hot topic these last few months around really the trends within real estate and making sure optimizing our portfolio. The second area that we focus on is transition and activation is actually how I got my career started helping hospitals move from point A to point B, or merging 2 facilities into a new facility. And so we have a large team that focuses on ensuring the operations are ready. Your nurses, your physicians, your staff, are ready to operate that new building. The physical environment is ready to operate for that 1st patient day and it takes about 2 and a half to 3 years to get that facility ready to actually go live, and then last, but certainly not least, is really our focus on management consulting so optimizing spaces, not necessarily new space, but making sure we’re getting the most out of our operations within the acute care, setting infusion centers things like that, looking at throughput patient volume and making sure again that we’re maximizing the capacity within that real estate. So those are the really 3 major components that we offer here within our consulting practice. And again, thank you for letting me speak about it today.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Yeah. Well, 2 things really struck me is what the old real estate adage of location. But in in healthcare that that’s obviously important. But then the whole activation of 3 years. And if you think about how long it takes to construct something and to be ready, you have to consider a lot before you even break ground.
Stevie Bander: Yes.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: And thinking about how you optimize those spaces, and when you all are planning you all become engaged, I guess I would say in in the process with an organization who’s saying, Hey, we’re shutting down this location. It’s old, it’s not working. And we need a new one. So at what point are you all engaged.
Stevie Bander: Sure. So typically, we see the whole process from bond funding or some sort of capital funding to go live is roughly 6 years. So if you think about how long that takes to actually have an idea that comes to life, it’s a very long runway. And so we typically come in after the design process is mostly complete. They’ve started to break ground, and construction is coming out of the ground. Usually most clients will go to Rfp. Looking for a transition activation consultant. So while it’s a very niche market, there’s definitely some great competitors out there that we have. I’ve worked for a few of them as well. And so we really look at within that 2 and a half to 3 year window, we have some very key elements that we’re focusing on. And ultimately, it’s around change management. Right? So if you think about your typical healthcare employee, a lot of our nurses, technicians have been in that position within that health system for 20, 30, 40 years. So now we’re asking them to change where they park where they eat lunch how they deliver care, what equipment they’re using their adjacencies, whether it’s the lab or the pharmacy. And so all of that is changing. And so again, it takes about 2 and a half to 3 years for us to meet with each individual department for months on end, looking at how they work there within their workflows today, and then trying to think about one. How can we reduce waste not only to the staff, but also to the patients to make sure that we’re more efficient, but then also thinking about the safety around performing those procedures, those workflows within that new environment. The best thing I can do is think about moving into a new house. And so, while the physical structure is there, your toothbrush is in a different cabinet. Your pantries are, you know, in a different location, your refrigerator. So you’re having to rethink about all of your day to day getting ready to get out of the house, and it’s just like that. But for a nurse and a physician around doing the procedures and the medical support within the patient population.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Wow! Wow! That I mean that, you know, I I think often people just assume, oh, well, we’re just gonna move, and everybody knows your job. And everybody’s just gonna figure it out. And that’s not reality. Yeah.
Stevie Bander: Correct. We’ve gotten a few phone calls about a year out, and we have that. Oh, gosh! Moment! Where we thought we could do it all in house. We thought we had the support. But every person within that health system has a day job. And so we are typically bringing 5 to 7 consultants in on not quite a dedicated basis, but quite a few number of hours helping support the growth and the development of this. And so it’s really important for people to realize that I’m not just saying this because I am a consultant, and I love new work. But it’s really important for your team to focus on their day jobs, the running of the hospitals, and allow us to support you, to elevate you, to make sure that you all are successful. As you start thinking about how to operate within that new facility.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Well, that that’s really great and very eye opening to me as you think about location. What do you think is the biggest mistake that healthcare executives make in deciding on location or size, or even like what will be housed in a facility.
Stevie Bander: Yeah. And I think that’s a lot around our portfolio strategy work. Excuse me. And so what we’re seeing now, obviously, the trends of mergers and acquisitions is that you know large health systems are gobbling up some of these smaller mom and pop practices, or these physician known practices and sometimes they chose real estate based on the proximity to their house. And while that made sense in the time right now, it doesn’t really align with developing your overall comprehensive portfolio strategy. And so we’re looking at. We’ve had some great health systems that are at a maturity level, that they are willing to take a look at their entire portfolio whether it’s 100 sites, whether it’s a thousand sites and say, Help me make sense of this, help me understand in my current environment? Do I have the right facilities in the right locations based on different pieces of demographic information, claims data, market attractiveness. And so we partner with them and say, Who are? Who is your patient population? Where are you going? What is your tactic around that? And then we leverage what we call dimension, Med, which is a location intelligence software that we help map out where their competitors are, where we see major growth within the market where certain demographic elements are, and we really help them understand? Do they have the right facilities in the right location? And if they do, then where should they go next? What does it look like in a future growth perspective? And how can we help you get there by making sure that you have a data driven approach? So to answer your question, I guess more succinctly is not having that data. Specific approach is really just thinking that you know the market. You know where it’s going. But why don’t you just do a little bit of validation to really ensure that you’re looking at the whole and complete picture again? Not only around market attractiveness. But I think capacity and utilization is also really important these days. We’re finding that our real estate leaders are more engaged, I guess, recently, and brought to the table. More about do we have the right size facilities based on what our growth efforts are. So the partnership between your real estate leadership, and your strategic leadership is really important to make sure that you’re bringing both ideas, both perspectives, to the forefront, so that we are creating a right location, a right facility that supports the overall growth within your facility.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: That that’s great. That’s great. And that kind of makes me think a little bit, too, about with the emergence of AI and technologies, and all the different tools designed and the goal to keep people healthy at home.
Stevie Bander: Yes.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: What are trends that you are seeing around technology or different types of of settings for care rather than the traditional hospital setting.
Stevie Bander: Sure, I think that there’s a few different ways to look at it. I always say, keep it simple. We have a lot of health systems that are going from 0 to 60 when they’re building a new facility, you know. Maybe things are even on paper. They don’t even have, you know a great system wide Emr. But now they’re going to go through like developing that Emr kiosks in the lobby. They’re having other nurse call systems nurse locator systems. And they’re really going 0 to 60. And while the intentionality is spot on, and it was where it needs to go, we have to understand that not only the staff, but also the patients that you see every day it’s new to them. And so we need to think about. Really, I like to call stair, step, approach of what are some of those things that we can introduce early on start that change process? And then how can we layer things on top for the years to come. So we can bring everyone together and drive the technology advancements forward. And I worry a little bit about some of our clients that have again really taken things 0 to 60. And it’s amazing they have the funding and the technology. But really the the impact to the patient, I think, is really important, and to the staff, to make sure they’re both comfortable within the environment. Now, having said that, I have seen some technology that has really helped a lot of our clients in rural environments or folks that just can’t travel to a lot of different health systems around. How you video in or telehealth in specialty providers around with within your ambulatory environment. So we’ve seen our clients actually be able to bring in a specialist through that telehealth screen while they’re with their primary care physician, while their family members are in the room so they can have a dialogue around the appropriate care for that patient, and that patient is allowing a team member as well as their family member in the room. So everyone’s hearing it together. And so of course there’s a lot of security, some hipaa. There’s a lot of things that go into making sure that that works for that client and for that patient, but I’ve seen it done really well, and it’s a huge patient satisfier to make sure that they are truly understanding the components around their care and making sure their family is with them within. Within that conversation.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Well. And as you talked about the you know people, you know, conferencing in for different types of meetings. And I’m thinking even about in the inpatient space as new facilities, whether that be an urgent care center or surgery center or anything is created. Should a lot of decisions about what is our 5 to 10 year strategy around virtual care be taken into account. Because if you’re trying to retrofit like screens and monitors and all of that that can be really challenging. Can it.
Stevie Bander: Absolutely. Yeah. So while I say, it’s a stair step, approach, the infrastructure needs to be thought about day one. So we had a clients a few years ago that starting, putting USB ports within their facility. And at the time, you know, I was surprised. I was like, that’s, you know. That’s a lot of time and effort putting in all these USB ports and all of the inpatient rooms within lobbies. I mean, it was everywhere. And looking back. Obviously, that makes a lot of sense. For where we are today, I think all of us are constantly connected to some sort of technology for personal use. And then also thinking about monitor upgrades and system upgrades. Now they have all these different access ports, and it’s a lot less disruptive to that patient care environment.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Oh, that’s so great! One of the things you mentioned earlier was talking about brand Standard. And then also thinking about, how do we think about. I mean, we want our patients to be truly happy in the environment that has been created to feel welcomed. How do you see? And I? This is not something I know a lot about. You know. How do you in your design, or even your decor of a facility? How do you think about that? From the standpoint of patient engagement, brand standard
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: creating a place where people want to come.
Stevie Bander: Yes. And so the one component around brand standards is to have patients feel like, no matter which building of yours they walk in, whether it’s an urgent care whether it’s your primary care, doctor, whether it’s the acute care setting that it feels like your brand, that it is. You are already attracted to it. You recognize it. You know what your comforts, your sensory. You know what you’re supposed to really feel within in your environment, because if you think about it. Most people when they’re going into the healthcare environment are for a negative reason. Right? They’re visiting a loved one. They’re not feeling well, they’re getting test results back. And so creating that brand consistency takes some of that anxiety away from that patient because they’ve seen it before. They’ve experienced before. And they know there’s ease of parking. There’s ease of wayfinding. There’s just some comforting components around. Why, brand standards and design standards are so important. I’ll also say it.It goes around when you’re trying to also figure out how you’re going to grow. So if a provider is coming to you, or an administrator is coming to you and saying, Hey, I’m going to hire 5 gi doctors in the next 3 years. I need a new building. If you have design standards and planning standards, and you understand your capacity and your utilization. You might be able to forego some costs of being able to forego a brand new building and say, Hey, we actually have capacity in this facility and it aligns with all our brand standards. It’s been newly renovated. And so you create economies of scale by being able to understand the brand component as well as the capacity and utilization within your facility. We also will help alleviate the haves and the have nots within every organization, right? If the squeaky, squeaky wheel gets the something or other, that’s how we feel like a lot within our healthcare systems. If there are people stomping their feet loud enough, they’ll get that new building, they’ll get that renovation. But by pulling all of this strategy and the real estate under one umbrella and looking at it and saying, Okay, this is a request for a new space because of XY, or Z. It goes through this vetting process with a multidisciplinary committee that’s looking at it. You’re eliminating that have and have not. And you’re being more intentional about what you want to do within your portfolio, which again, not only aligns to your strategic growth, but I think it also aligns to making sure that your culture is one of inclusivity, and making sure people are really aware of how they are prioritized and thought about within your organization.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Oh, I love that. So I mean really real estate management, all the planning, all, all of that has to do with great, patient care, but also really satisfied employees and associates who feel good about where they are feel like they’re being cared for in their environment and making good decisions for the future. If you were going to share one thing that you wish, every healthcare executive knew or thought about, what would that be?
Stevie Bander: I would honestly say communication. I know it sounds very fluffy, but I think there’s a lot of really great ideas out there, and I think that a lot of great intentions. I do feel like sometimes we all get so bogged down with being tactical and getting things done and being results driven that we forget to take a step back and think about the trickle down impact and how to communicate to those folks that are in the front lines, whether it’s at a reception desk, whether it’s a parking attendant, whether it’s a nurse that has aspirations to grow and be part of administration, you know there’s so many different people and perspectives that I do feel like we forget to communicate very strategically and intentionally with our team members, because, as I started off this conversation. It’s all around. Change right? That is the underlying theme. And what I do. And honestly, what I love is figuring out the impact of change and then understanding the appetite for change within that organization? And how do we create a healthy environment to accomplish both based on again those 2 components of the level of change, the appetite for change and making sure that we’re developing a clear cohesive plan for our team again to make sure that they feel really comfortable within that within that plan.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: I love that. I love that well, and we do some. Well, you know, we don’t want to bother people with that, or when we get closer to time, we’ll talk about that. And earlier is better. Because if you’re gonna use someone’s, input you need to have had the conversation before the decision is made, and to take account perspectives before the decision is made. So.
Stevie Bander: It’s interesting. You say that because we’ve seen some clients not either have physician buy in or clinical nursing buy-in. And we, you know. Keep asking to bring these folks to the table, and you know they’ll say no. It’s an operational decision, or Oh, it’s an administrative decision, you know we’ll clue them in when we need to, and it does. It always bites them in the butt, because the moment those folks have a seat at the table which they should have a seat at the table. Transparency is so critical in the change process they something doesn’t work, you know whether it’s a patient safety issue, whether it’s a perspective that someone didn’t know something happened in that room, or, you know, there’s many different reasons why there are challenges, I I would say, within not bringing people to the table. I will always say, you know it hurts the worst the 1st time they hear it. So if you’re if you’re building a new facility, and maybe you know, you’re going into like a universal bed model. And it’s going to impact. You know how people work day to day. It’s going to hurt the worst the 1st time, and you have 2 years to talk to them about it. So if you bite your tongue for 18 months, and you’re telling them 6 months before go live.It doesn’t hurt any less. So the more and more frequently you can tell them, the more you work them through that change process the better it’s going to be for everyone. It may not be easy conversation. It may not be enjoyable, but at least you know that you’ve done the hard thing to make sure that you are all working together to ensure, you know, a safe and safe environment.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: That’s great! That’s great. Why have I not asked you that I should have asked you.
Stevie Bander: Hmm. asking for help is okay. I know a lot of us, including myself, want to feel like you can do everything that you know everything, and while that could be mostly true. I would say not a lot of people have opened a 400 500 600 million dollars hospital in in their current role. Right? And so whether you just need advice, and you need to phone a friend and engage someone on what are some lessons learned. What are some of the things to look at all the way to, I need to outsource the entire transition activation. All of those are totally appropriate, and it really just depends on you and your skill set. But don’t just think that you can do it, because, you know, I’ve spent 15 years of my career moving hospitals. I think I’ve moved 80 to 90 hospitals, whether it’s mobs, acute care centers, cancer centers. And so there’s a lot of things that I’ve seen. There’s things I’ve done. Well, there’s things we haven’t done well, and so let us help you navigate your change within your organization, and I’m telling you you’ll learn something about it, and you’ll have a crutch to lean on along the way. So really, honestly asking for help and knowing what you don’t know, I think, is so important in today’s world.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: No, I think that that is, that is really great advice, because even with it, within my own organization, it’s like, no one can be a perfect expert on everything. I mean, no one can. And so it’s not an indictment of your intellect or your ability, or even if you’ve done it. In the past every site is a different site, likely in a different community. Different people are involved having somebody to to walk with you and to collaborate and be a sounding board and an advice giver. That’s that’s huge. So, Stevie, thank you. It has been a pleasure talking with you. I learned a lot today, and I will continue to learn a lot as we continue our relationship. And I, you know, thank you again. I can’t thank you enough.
Stevie Bander: Thank you so much. Cheryl really appreciated the time this morning.
Cheryl Dalton-Norman, Conduit Health Partners: Thank you. Bye-bye.
Stevie Bander: Bye.
Why This Matters
The future of health care is interdisciplinary. Real estate, technology, patient engagement, and strategic planning must work together to create systems that are resilient, efficient, and centered on people.
If you’re a health care leader, system planner, or facility executive, this episode will give you a clear view of how to think bigger — and more holistically — about your facilities.
Ready to Rethink Your Health Care Spaces?
If your organization is planning to expand, relocate, or upgrade its facilities, engaging early and intentionally is critical. As Stevie says, “Asking for help is not a weakness — it’s a strategy.”
At Conduit Health Partners, we know that building or optimizing a health care facility is about more than square footage — it’s about creating environments where patients feel safe, staff feel supported, and operations run efficiently. From strategic planning to seamless transitions and activation, our team partners with health care leaders to turn complexity into clarity.
