Weekly Health Care Real Estate Briefing: CON Law Changes | Hospital Staff Housing Projects | Minnesota $900 Million Medical Center Nearing Completion

Following on the heels of similar efforts in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, the West Virginia Legislature passed CON legislation that exempts hospitals (inpatient services), ambulatory services and birthing centers from the need to obtain a CON. West Virginia Governor Jim Justice is expected to sign the bill into law.
The City Council of Fort Wright, Kentucky, passed a resolution in support of a state House of Representatives bill that would exempt from CON requirements “any group of three contiguous counties if each county borders another state and each county has a population of 90,000 or more.” The State Legislature has viewed this carve-out as a way to stimulate development in certain border counties without undermining the broader CON program in Kentucky
Boston Medical Center became the first nonprofit health care organization in the nation to issue “sustainability bonds” with a $232 million bond sale to fund an expansion of 70 new inpatient beds, five new ORs and other renovations and expansions of existing facilities, including improvements to reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint.
Atrium Health and Best Buy Health announced a partnership to develop a new hospital-at-home service that includes virtual inpatient care, such as care for patients with chronic cardiac conditions, COPD, pneumonia, asthma and other medical and postoperative conditions.
CareOregon has plans to convert a seaside hotel into housing for the region’s health care workforce and Oregon Health Plan members with behavioral health needs. It will create 50-60 housing units, with two-thirds of the units reserved for staff.
Also on the staff housing front, a Massachusetts nursing home proposal aims to reduce staffing agency dependence by including housing for local staff of the nursing home operator, as well as, for nearby Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. The project would provide 48 units of subsidized housing for skilled nursing facilities and hospital staff.
After initial delays, St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, MN, a $900 million replacement hospital, is poised to open to patients this summer. The 18-story, 942,000 sf facility replaces the former St. Mary’s Medical Center, which will be demolished.
Freestanding emergency department developments are growing in popularity in Alabama as rural hospitals struggle due to staffing costs, decreased patient volume and lack of insurance. Since 2015, 10 new freestanding emergency departments have opened across the state. Some have lauded the additional support these facilities provide to rural communities, but Alabama Hospital Association president Don Williamson said these facilities sometimes pose a threat to existing hospitals and often cluster near cities with higher incomes rather than rural areas where their services are needed the most.
The Ensign Group has acquired the operations of two skilled nursing facilities in the Denver suburbs: Hampden Hills Post Acute, a 218-bed facility in Aurora, Colorado, and Mapleton Post Acute, an 84-bed facility in Lakewood, Colorado. These acquisitions bring Ensign’s portfolio to 290 health care operations.
New York’s Community Healthcare Network recently signed a 35-year lease in the South Bronx that will nearly double the size of its current facility. CHN has made a push to reach under-resourced communities in various areas of New York City.