Bayfront Health St. Petersburg To Be Sold To Orlando Health

The city’s oldest and largest hospital, Bayfront Health St. Petersburg, is set to be sold to nonprofit health care company Orlando Health, pending a vote by the City Council on July 9.

Community Health Systems Inc., the private company which currently owns the 480-bed facility, announced it had signed an agreement with Orlando Health on Thursday. The news comes about a year after city officials raised concerns about the management of the hospital, which sits on city-owned land and provides care to all, regardless of insurance status.

Orlando Health will take over operations and the long-term lease that Community Health Systems holds with the city, so long as council members approve next month, a news release said. A copy of the proposed lease obtained by the Tampa Bay Times shows it would run for 50 years.

The agreement states Orlando Health must continue to “provide charity care to needy and underserved persons” and “those who may otherwise be unable to afford or obtain care due to various possible adverse circumstances.”

City councilman Robert Blackmon, who was born at Bayfront St. Petersburg, said Friday that continuing the charity care was a “sticking point” in negotiations with Orlando Health. He said he will support the agreement, as did councilwoman Darden Rice.

After a one-on-one conversation with the company’s president and CEO David Strong a couple of months ago, Blackmon said he is confident charity care will continue at the hospital — and be even better under new management.

He pointed to a string of troubles at Bayfront under Community Health Systems, which purchased it in 2013. The hospital has seen layoffs and resignations of top executives, the ending of a partnership with the University of South Florida, and a Department of Justice investigation related to charity care finances in recent years.

Already frustrated, city officials grew more so in early 2019, when then-Bayfront CEO Joe Mullany gave council members a glowing annual report that did not align with problems playing out in public view.

“We’ve had difficult times in the last few years,” Blackmon said. “Orlando Health is the best-situated group to bring (Bayfront) back to the excellence it was once known for.”

Rice called the sale the “only reasonable solution” to the ongoing issues at the hospital.

“Ultimately, the new ownership is what is best for our community,” she said.

The city’s other six council members did not respond to requests for comment Friday. Mayor Rick Kriseman was not available for an interview.

About 15,000 patients were served at Bayfront St. Petersburg in 2018, according to hospital records. As of July 2019, the hospital employed 1,839 people and had 171 open positions.

Officials for Orlando Health declined to be interviewed, instead releasing a statement that said the sale should be final by Sept. 30.

Peter Young, a hospital consultant based in Fort Myers, said Orlando Health, which operates the only Level 1 trauma center in the Orlando area, is in an “expansion moment” of “picking up the skeletal remains” of hospitals in need of rejuvenation.

The purchase of Bayfront St. Petersburg would be the nonprofit’s debut in the Tampa Bay area, and make it so the nonprofit owns 14 total hospitals, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The sale also would mark the second Community Health Systems hospital acquired by Orlando Health, as it purchased Osceola County’s St. Cloud Regional Medical Center in April, the Sentinel reported.

Community Health Systems, based in Tennessee, has sold more than 50 hospitals since 2017 to pay off debt related to its $7.6 billion purchase of Florida’s Health Managed Associates in 2014, according to the National Business Journal.

Bayfront officials declined to be interviewed, and the company released a statement by Sharon Hayes, chief executive officer of the St. Petersburg hospital:

“Orlando Health is well-respected for their work to sustain and enhance medical services, and we are excited to partner with them to benefit our patients and communities,” she wrote. “This is an extraordinary time in health care and together we will continue to provide quality care for our neighbors, friends and family.”

 

Source:  Tampa Bay Times

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AdventHealth Plans New Medical Office Building Near Downtown Orlando

adventhealth

AdventHealth plans to build a new facility near its downtown-area campus.

The Altamonte Springs-based nonprofit health system is seeking city of Orlando approval for a 12-story medical office building with a parking garage at a listed address of 225 E. Rollins St.

The project — codenamed “Project Lego” and slated to be built on 15 parcels of land — has not submitted additional project documents with the city of Orlando yet, said city spokeswoman Samantha Holsten.

AdventHealth representatives declined to comment.

The health system is being represented by Orlando-based GrayRobinson law firm for its application seeking site plan approval.

The facility would be built inside AdventHealth Health Village, a 172-acre mixed-use community surrounding AdventHealth’s downtown Orlando campus. The longterm plan for the district includes:

  • Room for up to 800 additional hospital beds
  • 600,000 square feet of medical office space
  • 100,000 square feet of general office space
  • 100,000 square feet of retail space
  • Up to 670 residential units
  • A future hotel

Some of that residential development already has kicked off in the area. Orlando-based Ustler Group of Cos. and Atlanta-based Wood Partners are underway on construction of the 285-unit Alta at Health Village apartment complex at Orange Avenue and Winter Park Street, which is expected to be completed by mid-2021.

Ustler Group of Cos. President Craig Ustler supports having a diverse mix of real estate uses there, because they help enliven the area and add to the hospital’s presence, he told Orlando Business Journal.

 

Source:  OBJ

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Broward Health Buys Vacant Land For $14.5M

Broward Health is poised to expand after purchasing vacant land in Parkland for $14.5 million.

Lucky Land Star Holdings, managed by Agustin Herran in Miami, sold seven acres at the southwest corner of University Drive and Trails End to the North Broward Hospital District, the public body that runs Broward Health.

Herran is part of the family that owns Sedano’s Supermarket. His company acquired the property in deals of $8.8 million in 2012 and $950,000 in 2017.

No development plans have been approved there, but Broward Health could look to build an outpatient center. It has a hospital in neighboring Coral Springs.

 

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A Medical Complex Is Coming To Miami Worldcenter

Center for Health Performance

A $60 million medical center is planned for Miami Worldcenter, the mixed-use downtown development.

The 100,000-square-foot Center for Health + Performance, or CH+P, will sit on the ground floor of the Legacy Hotel & Residences, according to a release from the tower’s development firm, Royal Palm Companies.

A medical center was planned long before the pandemic, Dan Kodsi, CEO of RPC, said in a statement. But the pandemic is leading to some changes.

The development team is expanding the center’s air purification system and anti-microbial and chemical-resistant surfaces. Think voice-activated elevators, touchless room key access, UV-sterilization wands and robots for common areas — through the building.

Construction will begin on the tower at 942 NE First Ave. in the fall. The tower will have 274 condo units and 256 hotel rooms.

“While it’s been over a year in the making, COVID-19 was the driving force in enhancing some of our features that would allow the hotel to continue operating during any future pandemics,” Kodsi said in an email.

The center will have surgery rooms, capabilities for MRI, CT, mammography, X-Ray, ultrasound scans, on-site pharmacy, on-site laboratory for test results, and on-call doctors, nurses and nutritionists. The healthcare organization that will run the center has not been decided.

“One of the many impacts of COVID-19 will be a more informed and hyper-cautious traveler that will be looking for hotels and vacation homes that prioritizes their health and safety without sacrificing that luxury lifestyle they are accustomed to,” said Stephen Watson, head of medical and wellness projects for RPC.

The Miami Worldcenter is a 27-acre, $5 billion development that broke ground in 2018 with the construction of Paramount Worldcenter. The project includes hotels, condominiums and retail spaces.

 

Source:  Miami Herald

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Baptist Health Proposes Medical Office Building At Boca Hospital

Baptist Hospital-MOB

Baptist Health South Florida wants to construct a medical office building next to Boca Raton Regional Hospital.

The Miami-based nonprofit merged with BRRH in 2019. The Boca Raton nonprofit already launched a $250 million fundraising campaign to build a patient tower and a 972-space parking garage on its main campus.

The new application, which BRRH recently filed with the city, pertains to the 2.9-acre site at 745 Meadows Road. Located next to the hospital, the property currently has three office buildings for a combined 32,453 square feet. They were built in the early 1970s and would be demolished to make way for a larger office building and a parking garage.

 

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