Series Guide 1: Service Area
Analysis and Master Planning
ADVISORY ARTICLE
By William Jackson, MS, MA
Colombia & USA
Service Area Planning – Tsunami of Data!
Master Planning – Not Just Buildings!
Introduction
This series of healthcare/hospital related guides are intended to be of assistance to healthcare planners, architects and PMs in service area planning, master planning, and design process. Some of this material is well worn in that it is traditional and by nature not amenable to many new wrinkles However some of the process can be facilitated by the use of AI, but still requires planner interpretation for future implications. I have personally been involved in the planning, design and delivery of hospitals for over 40 years. Therefore I am more apt to be more subjective on some aspects in which I have had repetitious involvement. This does not imply however that what I present are universal truths but rather that they worked for me in the circumstances in which I was operating.
Some of the planning approaches and border on archaic but kindly remember when I started with “manual” data collection and analysis with a three foot long Compag computer with the small green screen and very few sophisticated applications. Obviously over time desk tops computers and associated apps became a means of more expedited data entry and analysis. I was therefore thrust into the tide of changing technology, of which I learned in support of what I was doing; no venturing out for fun. This all served to quicken the pace and, in some cases, accuracy of analysis (with the caveat garage in garbage out). However more importantly, it is imperative that the practitioners knows what the data means and how it is utilized in the prediction of utilization and associated facility needs.
These guides are detailed to accomplish the interaction that occurs in a sequential process. Each step presented builds upon previous information. I do not pretend to know everything but what I do not know I probably forgot. As such my bias can be questioned by better minds than mine. I have attempted to be as comprehensive and thorough as possible so there are no major gaps in the entire process.
The guides are as follows: Guide one addresses service area analysis and Master Planning while Guide two presents the design process and Guide three will provide projects examples for Master Planning and Design process.
Healthcare Services Planning
Hospitals Overview
Generally more people know vaguely what a hospital is and the purpose that it serves, but those who actually plan, design and build hospitals know that the various types of hospitals have varying degrees of complexity.
Healthcare facilities range from 24 hour/emergent, usually smaller rural facilities, to massive multi building academic medical centers. The general tenet for all size facilities is diagnosing and saving lives with the differentiating factor being number and types of specialty areas. Generally more complex specialty services (e.g.: neurosurgery, orthopedics surgery and a myriad of other body parts), are either in dedicated facilities or part of a larger medical center. With that being said most of us are more familiar with the mid-size local community hospitals that offer a fairly comprehensive array of diagnostic and treatment services along with a commitment to preventive programs also.
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How to cite this article: Jackson, W. (2026). Health Care Planning, Design and Delivery Series Guide 1: Service Area Analysis and Master Planning, PM World Journal, Vol. XV, Issue VIII, August. Available online at https://pmworldjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/pmwj167-Aug2026-Jackson-Guide-1-Service-Area-Master-Planning.pdf
About the Author
William C. Jackson
USA & Colombia
William C Jackson, MS, MA Fellow HFI. has been involved with healthcare facilities planning, programming, design oversight and project delivery for over 40 years. He has consulted or worked directly for 60 hospitals in national and international settings. He has been associated with 9.0 million square feet of hospital projects put in place; He has worked for design firms (Ellerbe, HDR and Heery), consulting firms, PM firms and academic medical centers (17 years) including Bowman Gray School of Medical at Wake Forest and the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. International work includes seven years of varying roles in the United Arab Emirates working on two 3,0 million square foot hospitals, Turkey, Haiti and Nassau. He is presently semi-retired, living in Medellin, Colombia, and can be reached at bjcamel2012@gmail.com.
