Vanderbilt University Medical Center To Convert Tennessee Supermarket Into Surgery Center

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Nashville, Tenn.) plans to convert a former Harris Teeter supermarket into an 15 million, 50,000-square-foot ambulatory surgery center that will include seven operating rooms, 18 exam rooms, nine infusion stations, and two procedure rooms offering urology, orthopedic, and oncology services in Belle Mead, Tenn., according to the article in the Nashville Business Journal:

Residents of Belle Meade will have a new health care option in their neighborhood. Vanderbilt University Medical Center filed permits with Metro to renovate a former Harris Teeter supermarket at a price tag of more than $15 million, according to the permits. The 50,000-square-foot Belle Meade Ambulatory Surgical Center will be located at 6002 Highway 100, at the Highway 70 and Highway 100 split.

Vanderbilt has been growing its Middle Tennessee footprint in recent years and now has approximately 100 sites of care, such as urgent care centers and oncology centers, across the region. Last year, the health system bought Tennova Healthcare-Lebanon from Franklin-based Community Health Systems.

The Belle Meade surgery center will give the neighborhood’s financially well-off residents, who typically have private insurance, a convenient access point to the VUMC system. The facility will include seven operating rooms, 18 exam rooms, nine infusion stations and two procedure rooms, according to a news release, and will offer urology, orthopedic and oncology services.

“This new facility will provide convenient, state-of-the-art care for people closer to where they live, and represents another example of Vanderbilt’s commitment to expand to meet the needs associated with our growing region,” Dr. C. Wright Pinson, VUMC deputy CEO and chief health system officer, said in the release.

It was not immediately clear when renovations on the facility would begin or when the facility is expected to open. The surgery center is currently in the design-development phase with New York-based Blair + Mui Dowd Architects, according to the release. Messer Construction Co. is listed as the applicant on the permit.  The supermarket closed in 2015.

 

Source: healthcare design

Doctors And Dentists Offices Begin Reopening In South Florida

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Many doctors and dentists closed their offices during the coronavirus lockdown.

Now, as they begin to reopen, it’s becoming clear that visiting the doctor’s office will come with a whole new set of rules. As things slowly start to creep toward normality places like dentists offices are figuring out what a new normal is going to look like.

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, dentist offices have had a tough choice to make; whether to remain open for emergencies or close completely, to ensure their patients, staff, and families were safe.

“I have a newborn that was born in February, so going home after that’s going on with COVID, you want to take those extra precautions,” said Dr. Joshua Golden with West Sunrise Dentistry. “But I knew this is what I signed up for once I became a dentist. I need to take care of my patients.”

Doctor Golden said that’s why he chose to stay open, seeing patients through virtual means for minor situations and in person, for more serious stuff.

“We would basically triage the patient over the phone, see what they needed,” Dr. Golden explained. “Let’s say it’s a broken tooth. If it’s a broken tooth, it’s sharp, it’s hurting you, that is an emergency.”

It was the same for Doctor Arnaldo Lopez of the Somi Dental Group in South Miami. He told Local 10 News‘ Ian Margol they had patients come from as far as Naples and Fort Myers for help because there were so few offices open. And Lopez says, they were learning on the fly.

“Every day was completely different,” said Dr. Lopez. “Some days we might have one patient and I would have half of the staff come in, and out of nowhere five patients would call and I would have to call the staff last-minute because they were all basically on call.”

Click here to view the WPLG Local 10 News video ‘Closed For Coronavirus, Many South Florida Doctors And Dentists Begin Reopening Offices‘

 

Source: Local 10 News

The COVID-19 Shutdown Tests Medical Office Buildings As An Investment

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As U.S. health-care systems limit medical services to emergency and urgent care situations in the face of COVID-19, medical office buildings are standing empty, and the threat of tenants missing lease payments mounts.

Still, experts say, investors have every reason to keep MOBs high on their list of sector favorites. In addition to pent-up demand, strong sector fundamentals—aging Baby Boomers, expanded medical insurance coverage, new treatment options and shifts in service delivery—are expected to aid the MOB sector’s rebound and its love affair with investors.

“Medical office buildings and other outpatient care settings have been hot commodities in commercial real estate investment for the past several years,” according to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2020 Health Care Investor Outlook released at the end of last year. “Legacy investors are doubling down on the sector, while new investors are competing for the limited product supply.”

In the meantime, medical office building owners will have to wait for tenants and their patients to return.

“Most owners are trying to not make an impulsive decision, to wait and see how this situation plays out,” said Allen Bolden, a partner with HB Medical Real Estate.

But despite the MOB market’s underlying strength, too much time may prove to be an enemy.

“The fact that we don’t know if this will last another week or several months is why we can’t give solid answers to the future,” Bolden added. “The only thing we do know is the longer the economy is shut down, the more this will test the strength of MOBs as an investment.”

 

Source: CPE