Partners To Bring SCL Health Anchored Facility To Candelas Community

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Mortenson Development, Inc., the development arm of top-20 U.S. builder Mortenson, just announced it will soon break ground on a new 43,732-square-foot Class A medical office building at the intersection of West 91st Place and Candelas Parkway within the rapidly growing Candelas master-planned community in Arvada, Colorado.

Mortenson has worked closely with SCL Health to deliver more than 40 projects over the last decade. This marks the first project on which Mortenson will act as a developer/owner for the nonprofit healthcare organization.

“Access to quality healthcare has never been more important, and we’re proud to be working with SCL Health to bring this primary care facility to the Candelas community,” said Taber Sweet, Director of Real Estate Development with Mortenson Development, Inc. in Denver. “Acting as a development partner on a vital healthcare project like this is one of many ways Mortenson delivers value to its clients and invests in building stronger communities here in Colorado.”

The new two-story facility, designed by Davis Partnership Architects, will provide the Candelas community with convenient access to primary care physicians. Mortenson was responsible for site planning and design services for the development, including managing all entitlements and city approvals. The project team anticipates breaking ground on the new facility later this summer, with completion anticipated in summer 2021.

“With more than 4,300 new homes currently under construction in Candelas, we recognized the growing need for access to compassionate, high-quality and effective care in this community,” said Steve Chyung, Senior Vice President with SCL Health. “This project represents an important expansion of SCL Health’s network of care. Through our work with Mortenson, we look forward to delivering a new facility that will allow us to provide comprehensive, mission-driven care solutions in the heart of Candelas.”

SCL Health provides coordinated care through eight hospitals, more than 150 physician clinics, and home health, hospice and mental health and safety-net services primarily in Colorado and Montana.

Mortenson partnered with Seavest Healthcare Properties LLC in a joint venture to develop the project. Seavest is a sector-specific investor focused on investing in medical office buildings and outpatient facilities of all types that are strategic to hospitals. Seavest has been a recognized owner and manager of these critical assets for more than 30 years.

“We are pleased to join with Mortenson to assist SCL Health to bring healthcare services to Candelas,” says Jonathan “John” Winer, Seavest Senior Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer. “Mortenson has done a terrific job of designing and planning for the project and we look forward to getting in the ground shortly.”

Associated Bank provided the construction financing loan totaling approximately $9.6 million. Since 2012, Mortenson Development, Inc. has partnered on the development of nearly 700,000-square-feet in the healthcare space.

 

Source: HREI

Medical Real Estate Still The Best Way To Keep Your Portfolio Healthy

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In 2018, the JSE’s SA listed property index dropped 25%. In 2019, the total return from the index was 1.92%, well below inflation. In the first five months of 2020, the index shed 39%.

Although dividends from listed property grew by 8-12% a year between 2014 and 2017, growth slowed to 3.5% in 2019, which again was below inflation. In response to the economic fall-out from Covid-19, many property companies have warned they will withhold dividends this year to strengthen their balance sheets and until they understand the full fallout from the pandemic.

The data is not looking encouraging.  Office tenants are cutting space wherever possible, having learned that their reduced workforce can work from home. Retail is under enormous pressure across the board, from the legendary brands like Edgars to the smaller independent brands, and restaurants that just don’t have the fire power to recapitalise and pay rents in a market where there are still restrictions and the consumer is unable to come to the rescue.

What’s more, if you are in the hotel and hospitality industry, then there is really no clear path to recovery at this stage and the losses will be devastating.

There’s no refuge in residential property, either. The Lightstone Residential Property Index shows national house price growth in SA peaked at 6.25% in 2014 and has slowed since then to a five-year low of 1.7% in 2019. Lightstone expects, despite the recent interest rate cuts, that growth in the residential housing market will slow again in 2020.

Two specialized sectors of the property market have continued to deliver solid returns throughout the Covid-19 crisis. Logistics is one of the winners due to online e-commerce stores which have enjoyed a surge in online shopping.

The other big winner globally is medical office buildings, whose tenants mostly offer essential services. Even those who had been required to close are already benefiting from a post-lockdown surge in patient visits as medical procedures can, in most cases, not be postponed indefinitely. Think for a moment about your dentist, who will still need to attend to those fillings even if he could not see you over the last three months.

For South Africans who invested in offshore logistics or medical buildings, the rand returns have been considerably enhanced by the latest depreciation of the rand against the dollar.

In the US, the Covid-19 crisis has hit particularly hard, with 134,000 deaths by early July, amid total confirmed cases exceeding three million. Hospitals under pressure to clear wards and scale up for the anticipated flood of Covid-19 patients have had to postpone all elective procedures and turn patients away who were not critical.

This dramatically affected the income of all medical professionals who are not directly involved in treating Covid-19 patients, and has also affected hospitals’ revenue. Even as the US emerges from lockdown, patients choose to avoid traditional hospitals in fear of being exposed to the virus. This has been a boost for medical practitioners working outside the hospital systems, as patients have sought treatment from doctors working from these independent facilities.

Orbvest, which has 19 medical office buildings under management in three US states (Texas, Georgia and New Jersey), noted rental collections declined slightly in April, during lockdown, as about 21 tenants across the entire portfolio of over 100,000 square meters requested deferment.

But by end-June, the net collection of rentals was back to 97.6%, as both Texas and Georgia re-opened their economies, and collections for the month of July already are close to normal. The nett result of the pandemic on our projected revenue will be negligible and we expect to have fully recovered before year end.

Medical property investment was not an unexpected beneficiary of the Covid-19 crisis. The argument for buying into a building tenanted by medical professionals, especially in the US, makes fundamental sense in the long term. In the US, the aging population is growing and requiring more medical care. An investment delivering a proven 8% p.a. in US dollar dividends paid quarterly, plus a capital gain share at the end of the investment period, is an essential part of a diversified portfolio for South African investors.

 

Source: Daily Maverick

Amazon’s New Prime Offer: Delivering Six Health Clinics For 20,000 Workers In Dallas-Fort Worth

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Amazon is getting into the health care delivery business, at least for its employees.

Last month, the e-commerce giant opened a primary care clinic in Irving and soon plans to open similar health centers in Coppell, Garland, Duncanville, North Fort Worth and near Haslet. The local launch is the first stage of a pilot project that will include four other U.S. metros by early next year, Amazon said.

Registered nurse Jodyne Schlachter explains the technology in one of the clinical rooms at the new Amazon health center in Irving. Amazon plans to open five additional clinics in North Texas this year.(PHOTO CREDIT: Ben Torres / Special Contributor)

Depending on results in Dallas-Fort Worth, Phoenix, Louisville, Detroit and San Bernardino, Calif., Amazon could eventually expand the clinics to additional employee hubs.

The project was conceived over a year ago, before COVID-19 emerged. Officials said the coronavirus has had little effect on their plans, except to put even more emphasis on virtual health visits.

Amazon’s centers will be staffed by Crossover Health, a California company that operates onsite and near-site facilities for some large self-insured employers, including Microsoft, Facebook and LinkedIn. The clinics will include doctors, nurses, chiropractors, physical therapists and behavioral health experts.

Amazon has about 20,000 employees in North Texas and has been growing rapidly here. About 11,000 work in operations and fulfillment centers, and the rest are corporate staff, management and tech workers.

Amazon is hardly a pioneer in this space. Walmart unveiled its own health clinics in 2014, charging $4 for a doctor’s visit for employees and $40 for store customers.

Amazon clinics will be limited to employees and their dependents. To accommodate so-called Amazonians on late shifts, the centers will have extended hours, including weekends.

“Hopefully, we’re within 10 miles of almost everybody who works for Amazon in the D-FW area,” said Derek Rubino, senior program manager for workplace health and safety. “Amazon was proud to offer health insurance to all full-time employees on their first day, including hourly workers. But many in D-FW don’t use the benefit. A lot of it really comes down to convenience. Having benefits only gets you part-way there.”

Amazon wants to remove barriers that keep workers away and persuade them to embrace primary care. That includes a range of services, from check-ups and immunizations to managing chronic conditions. Studies show primary care helps avoid more complicated, costly problems later.

“I honestly believe this is going to be life-changing for some folks,” Rubino said.

Onsite clinics are usually embraced by large employers and often were started to address workplace injuries. More recently, companies have adopted them for general medical care, putting clinics near the workplace, not inside it.

In 2017, one-third of companies with at least 5,000 employees had a general medical clinic at or near their worksite, according to a survey by Mercer, a human resources consultant. That share was twice as high as a decade earlier.

“The vast majority of these clinics have done very well, both in meeting their financial objectives as well as improving health and wellness,” said Larry Boress, executive director of the National Association of Worksite Health Centers.

Companies cite many reasons for investing in clinics, from lowering health spending to boosting worker productivity.

“Over 40% of employees who use the clinics don’t have a personal doctor,” Boress said, “and in the Mercer survey, more than 1 in 3 said the clinics served as their medical home. These clinics often become their only source of medical care.”

Health advocates, employers and insurers are emphasizing primary care as a way to bend the curve in health spending. In Plano, to encourage city employees to go to certain doctors, the health plan charges a copay of just $5 for a visit. In Fort Worth, it’s free for city employees to use certain clinics or virtual health providers — but there’s a stiff penalty for going to the ER if it’s not an emergency.

The Amazon health centers are in-network providers so employees will pay the standard rate, which depends on the health plan they’ve chosen. Amazon officials would not provide a number or range. On Amazon’s benefits website, the price of an in-network office visit is $30.

“We wouldn’t drive anyone away because of price,” Rubino said.

Crossover Health, which started in 2010, said employers save 30% on health spending through its program. One reason is that it claims to cut urgent care visits and imaging services by half.

During the pandemic, Crossover said it has shifted 90% of interactions to virtual care, and secure messaging — emails and texts between patients and providers — is up 40%.

“We can identify things that may be important to a specific population and really tailor the program,” said Dr. Stephen Ezeji-Okoye, Crossover’s chief medical officer. “The extended hours, the range of services, the coverage of young dependents — all that was designed for Amazon employees.”

Crossover also emphasizes short waits, usually fewer than five minutes, to see a doctor. Visits last 30 minutes or more, in part because doctors aren’t reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis.

“Crossover gets a monthly payment, based on a per-member fee or a cost-plus arrangement,” Ezeji-Okoye said, “and that keeps the focus on keeping patients healthy. The long encounters lead to fewer tests and imaging and fewer referrals because we have the time to establish a relationship.”

“While many companies and providers are rethinking their approaches to health care, Amazon’s move could have an outsize influence,” said Boress of the worksite trade group. “Employers like to benchmark themselves against the leading edge companies. They look to the leaders, and in many cases, they follow ’em.”

 

Source: The Dallas Morning News