Building Boom: Free From Regulation, New Hospitals On The Rise In South Florida

Scientists arabic team at modern hospital lab, group of doctors

Two years after the Legislature dissolved rules that restricted the opening of new hospitals and major bed expansions at existing ones, changes to the health care landscape are taking shape.

The rollback of the Certificate of Need (CON) law creates growth opportunities for health systems that could lead to big capital spending on construction and medical equipment, while boosting access to health care in neighborhoods without enough providers.

Several local hospital systems are already considering expansions with new facilities.

However, the question is whether the new hospitals will improve the health care system or only add to the higher costs that are making insurance coverage more expensive for many companies. Some critics warn that employee bidding wars between expanding health care systems could drive up costs.

What shouldn’t be overlooked is that removing the CON requirement will allow existing hospitals to expand their bed count, which is less expensive than building new hospitals, said Ray Berry, CEO of Cooper City-based Health Business Solutions, which helps hospitals deal with claims.

He doesn’t expect new competitors to enter the Broward County market because they would be at a disadvantage when negotiating with insurance companies that have established hospital partners there, said Berry, a board member of the North Broward Hospital District, which governs Broward Health.

With all the residential development in Fort Lauderdale, Broward Health Medical Center should eventually grow to accommodate the population, he said.

South Florida already has plenty of beds to accommodate its population, so new hospitals could end up lowering bed occupancy rates for other hospitals, said Salvatore Barbera, associate director of the health care administration program at Florida Atlantic University’s College of Business.

Instead of lowering prices to compete for patients, hospitals may end up raising prices to cover their operating costs with fewer patients, he added.

“It’s probably going to stir up the market, and you may see some failed operations as a result,” said Barbera, a former hospital CEO.

 

Click here to read more about this story.

 

/by

New Rehab Hospital Planned In Osceola County

rehabilitation_canstockphoto11992585 760x320

Dallas-based Everest Rehabilitation Hospitals LLC plans to build a $24 million, 40,000-square-foot rehab hospital in Kissimmee for patients recovering from conditions like strokes and brain injuries.

The single-story, 36-bed facility — slated to include shell space for 17 additional beds for future expansion — will be built on about four acres on John Young Parkway near the intersection of Osceola Park Drive.

The planned facility will include inpatient and outpatient physical therapy gyms, aqua therapy, a skills training apartment for patients, gathering areas, a dining facility, in-house dialysis and a pharmacy.

 

Click here for more about this story.

 

/by

Sarasota Memorial Hospital To Open $437M Medical Campus

Sarasota Memorial Hospital 760x320

Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s 65-acre medical campus in Venice, Fla., is slated to open in November, according to an article in the Herald-Tribune.

The $437 million project will include a cardiology unit/catheterization lab; critical care and intensive care units; 28-bed emergency department; labor, delivery and postpartum unit; and imaging and radiology department.

The campus will feature a five-story, 365,000-square-foot hospital with 110 private rooms and a two-story, 60,000-square-foot medical office building. An adjacent 400-space parking garage is also planned.

 

Source:  HCD

/by

Two-Building Medical Office Portfolio In Ocoee Trades

10125 & 10131 W Colonial Dr in Ocoee

Cushman & Wakefield has brokered the sale of the West Orange Professional Center, a portfolio of two medical office buildings located at 10125 & 10131 W Colonial Dr in Ocoee.

The two-story buildings are located directly across the street from the Orlando Health – Health Central Hospital campus. The 38,537-square-foot portfolio was 88.2% leased with a weighted average lease term of over 5.5 years. The property was acquired by OrbVest and SG Property Services. OrbVest is a global real estate company focused on acquiring healthcare real estate assets across the United States.

Anne Spencer and John Skinner with the Florida Healthcare Advisory Practice in partnership with Travis Ives and Gino Lollio of Cushman & Wakefield’s US Healthcare Capital Markets Team represented the seller, Miami-based Larkspur Properties, in the transaction.

“Desirably located adjacent to a major regional hospital facility, the property was a unique opportunity to acquire a dependable income stream from an esteemed tenant roster combined with a value-add opportunity in the lease-up of vacant space,” said Ives, Managing Director. “During the seller’s ownership, several new tenants were signed to the property that increased the overall occupancy and stability of the asset. This building and location offers exceptional synergy across the healthcare landscape.” 

 

Spencer, Director said, “Ocoee is part of the greater Orlando MSA, one of the fastest growing regions in the country for its fantastic climate, affordable housing stock and abundance of shopping and employment opportunities. This growth has led to the rising need and demand from medical users, and therefore investors. The market for medical space on and around the property is nearly fully occupied, putting this asset in great position for further potential future success.”

Orlando Health – Health Central Hospital is a 211-bed, general acute care hospital that features nationally accredited programs in orthopedics, spine and heart care. In addition, the hospital recently completed a 30,000-sf cancer treatment facility.

 

/by

ShareMD Acquires Additional South Florida MOB, Adding To Growing Healthcare Portfolio

5353FederalHwy-FtLauderdale 760x320

ShareMD, a healthcare real estate and physician practice solution company with corporate office in Alpharetta, Georgia, has closed escrow on a 33,974-square-foot multi-tenant medical office atop .97 acres in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Benjamin Silver of Marcus & Millichap represented both Buyer and Seller. The purchase price was not disclosed.

This purchase represents the ninth medical office property purchased by ShareMD in the past eighteen months, and increases ShareMD’s total portfolio to fifteen properties and approximately one million square feet of owned healthcare real estate assets in Florida and California. ShareMD is funded by private equity firm Martis Capital.

“We’re excited to continue ShareMD’s growth in the healthcare facility sector with this acquisition”, said ShareMD’s Chairman and CEO John Bardis. Bardis, the former Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Health & Human Services as well as the founder and former head of MedAssets, continued, “ShareMD provides a range of healthcare space and technology solutions, and this addition to our portfolio provides for additional capabilities in the South Florida marketplace”.

ShareMD has acquired a dozen healthcare and medical/professional properties in the past two years totaling almost 850,000 sf in Florida in addition to its 170,000 sf California healthcare portfolio.

“We were attracted to this opportunity to further expand our portfolio in South Florida”, said ShareMD founder and Chief Investment Officer, George Scopetta. “And, our team’s private equity backing and our track record of nearly one million square feet of properties purchased over the past three years provided the seller with confidence that we could close quickly, and with certainty.”

The purchase was financed by a loan from American National Insurance Company facilitated by Pacific Southwest Realty Services (PSRS) Genworth Life Insurance Company. Greenberg Traurig provided legal counsel, and title services were provided by Chicago Title. Additional purchase transaction support was provided by ShareMD Asset Management, a healthcare facility-focused management company which also manages ShareMD’s bicoastal portfolio.

 

/by