- A Modern Healthcare article highlighted ways providers are increasingly turning to real estate transactions to generate cash flow to ease financial pressures and help navigate evolving care delivery models. A JLL survey indicated that 44% of hospital clients expect their real estate portfolio to shrink over the next 3-5 years.
- Intermountain welcomed its first patients at a new children’s hospital in Lehi, Utah. The hospital is the second Intermountain children’s hospital and includes a 5-story, 66-bed, 486,000-sf hospital along with an outpatient center, trauma center and MOB.
- The Oregon House of Representatives held hearings on a bill aimed at reducing barriers to opening new health care facilities by reconsidering existing CON laws.
- A Manhattan judge blocked Mount Sinai’s Beth Israel Hospital from closing until a trial can be held. Earlier this month, a group of local residents filed a lawsuit claiming the closure was a “real estate cash grab.” The hospital said it has lost over $1B over the last decade.
- County assessors in Nebraska are taking a more focused look at hospital property tax exemptions for nonprofit providers, stating that the number of such exemptions are becoming a statewide concern. The hospital property tax exemption statute in Connecticut will be at issue later this month as the Connecticut Supreme Court will hear an exemption appeal.
- Ohio developed an $85M program that will direct federal funds to its Appalachian region for the development of community innovation centers aimed at addressing shortfalls in education, health care and jobs. New construction, renovation or facility expansion projects can qualify for aid if the project helps expand physical or behavioral health services to the public.
- Several recent stories highlighted health care adaptive reuse projects: Hartford HealthCare has undertaken a years-long strategy of converting retail spaces for health care use; a West Virginia hotel is in the process of being converted into a community health clinic and senior housing; and two schools in Carbondale, IL are being developed into senior living communities.
- Several Indiana employers, universities and health care organizations launched a collaborative intending to reduce health care costs and maintain a healthy workforce through private-sector solutions.
- The Joint Commission recently launched a voluntary certificate program on sustainability, which was based on continual demand and input from clinicians seeking a metric to help hospitals achieve environmental milestones.
- Becker’s ran a piece on Optum’s aggressive growth strategy over the past five years, as the organization made a conscious move to avoid owning or constructing hospitals and toward a partnership-based model of employing large physician groups and managing home and hospice care providers.
For more information on real estate matters, please contact:
- Andrew Dick at adick@hallrender.com or (317) 977-1491;
- Joel Swider at jswider@hallrender.com or (317) 429-3638; or
- Your primary Hall Render contact.
Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot give legal advice outside of an attorney-client relationship.
