From replacement hospitals to major cancer centers, health systems nationwide are moving forward on large-scale construction projects to expand capacity, modernize infrastructure and meet rising patient demand in 2026.
Here are 14 hospital projects worth $500 million or more that have been announced, advanced or opened in 2026:
1. Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System kicked off the first phase of construction May 12 on its Pagidipati Children’s Hospital at St. Joseph’s. The new facility, which is scheduled to open in 2030, represents a $650 million hospital investment to succeed BayCare’s existing St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa.
2. Kansas City, Mo.-based Children’s Mercy is planning a more than $1 billion acute care patient tower at its Adele Hall campus as demand for pediatric services grows nationwide. The expansion is expected to increase total capacity by 25% to 30% and includes a new home for the pediatric intensive care unit, neonatal intensive care unit and expanded emergency department. Enabling work is expected to begin in fall 2026, with a goal of project completion in 2031.
3. Hartford (Conn.) Hospital on April 27 unveiled plans for a $950 million, 14-story inpatient tower. The tower, expected to open in 2031, will connect multiple parts of the campus, as well as expand emergency department capacity and upgrade cancer care. Construction will begin next year.
4. Fort Worth, Texas-based JPS Health Network broke ground April 16 on what it called the centerpiece of its master facility plan. The $1.5 billion hospital will significantly expand capacity and bring advanced clinical services into modern, integrated spaces. The project includes the construction of a new inpatient hospital and the expansion of the existing pavilion replacing aging infrastructure with “modern, flexible environments.” Construction on the new hospital and pavilion expansion is expected to be completed in 2030.
5. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on April 7 began construction on an estimated $1.68 billion cancer hospital in Boston. The 300-bed hospital, announced in September 2023 and approved by the Boston Planning Department in October 2024, will span 450,000 square feet across 10 inpatient floors and is expected to open in 2031. The project comes as Dana-Farber prepares to end its longtime partnership with Boston-based Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
6. Portland-based Oregon Health & Science University opened the Vista Pavilion, a $650 million building dedicated solely to cancer care services on April 7. Vista Pavilion has 128 inpatient beds with space to add another 56 inpatient beds in the future. The facility will expand OHSU Hospital’s capacity by about one-third and is connected to the hospital through three skybridges.
7. Fulton County (Ga.) Commissioners voted unanimously March 18 to advance plans for a $900 million hospital that would operate under Atlanta-based Grady Health. The total campus investment will be more than $1 billion, including a $38 million freestanding emergency department set to open in June 2026 and later be integrated into the hospital, a $75 million medical office building and the $900 million, 200-bed facility.
8. Memphis, Tenn.-based Regional One Health received approval in March from the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission for its certificate of need to build a $900 million hospital in Memphis. Regional One Health shared plans to move forward with the new facility in late September 2025, which is backed by a $500 million investment from Shelby County, Tenn.
9. Columbus-based The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center opened its new $1.9 billion University Hospital on Feb. 23. The 1.9 million-square-foot, 26-story hospital has 820 private rooms. The hospital includes 24 operating rooms, 10 interventional radiology suites, 234 ICU beds, the region’s only level 4 maternity care hospital, and 148 additional beds for patients of The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.
10. Memphis, Tenn.-based St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital said Feb. 20 it plans to build an $810 million research center on its main hospital campus. The facility will be the organization’s second advanced research center and is expected to be completed in 2029. The 17-story, 865,000-square-foot center will include 130 lab spaces on 13 floors.
11. The Medical University of South Carolina board of trustees on Feb. 13 advanced plans to build a new cancer hospital in Charleston. MUSC said the estimated cost of the new cancer hospital is $1.115 billion, including approximately $885 million for construction and $230 million for equipment and furnishings. The hospital will anchor a hub-and-spoke model aimed at centralizing the system’s inpatient and outpatient oncology services.
12. Construction began Jan. 28 on Baptist Health Sunrise (Fla.) Hospital, a 100-bed inpatient facility. The planned seven-story, 340,000-square-foot facility is expected to open to patients in 2029. Baptist Health Sunrise Hospital represents a more than $500 million investment.
13. The board of trustees for Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health on Feb. 12 approved construction plans expected to cost upward of $1 billion to meet patient demand in Southeast North Carolina. The project includes a heart and vascular patient tower, an additional heart and vascular medical office building, a physical rehabilitation hospital and a reconfiguration of two floors at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C. Novant said it expects the project to take five to seven years.
14. West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health on Jan. 8 received final approval from the New Jersey Department of Health to build its 15th hospital. The decision allows the system to build an acute care hospital in Tinton Falls, N.J., and make improvements at its existing Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, N.J. The projected cost for the project is $858.7 million.
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