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Unprecedented Growth Projected In Outpatient Care In The Next 10 Years

The U.S. population is projected to grow by 22.5 million people, or just shy of 7%, between 2020 and 2030.

Remarkably, three-quarters of the population growth, or 17 million people, is in the 65 years or older cohort. Nearly 4 of 5 healthcare expenditure dollars is spent by this older group. With the aging population increasing from 17% of the U.S. population in 2020 to 21% of the U.S. population in 2030, medical encounters will be on a rapid rise.

Forecasted growth in patient care volumes between 2020 and 2030, however, show divergent trends between inpatient and outpatient utilization. Inpatient admissions are expected to decline in absolute number from 34.9 million stays to 34.6 stays, or a drop of 0.9% in this 10-year period.

Outpatient care stands in sharp contrast with estimated growth of more than 20%, representing an added 540 million annual outpatient visits over the 10 year period. In 2030, outpatient encounters are expected to top more than 3.2 billion serving the expected U.S. population of 355 million individuals in 2030, or 9 visits per individual a year.

The trend towards outpatient care and away from hospital stays is a decades-long shift. Today, more than 50% of health system revenue comes from outpatient visits, a radical change from hospital-centric care to patient-centric care. In the past 20 years, inpatient admissions per 1,000 population dropped from 120 to 103, a reduction of 14%. During the same time, outpatient visits per capita grew 26%.

Advances in technology and medicine have enabled care to grow and thrive outside the acute care facility, a trend that has been accompanied by better healthcare outcomes, lower mortality and greater patient safety. Outpatient care has fueled the growth of medical office buildings, both on campus and in the community, supporting the shift to the “patient-centric” mode of healthcare delivery.

The pandemic in 2020 and 2021 put a spotlight on the jeopardy with delivery of U.S. outpatient care in an acute care setting. Thus, the healthcare crisis accelerated the trends in increased care in locations such as urgent care centers, ambulatory surgery centers and other outpatient medical buildings. At the same time, telehealth exploded in use during the pandemic given the obstacles to safe visits at the height of the crisis. Telehealth visits grew from 1% of outpatient encounters pre-pandemic to 12.5% at the peak in April 2020 to 6% today with widely varying utilization by medical specialties.

The aging and growing U.S. population and the overarching trend towards outpatient care is strongly supportive of increased demand for healthcare real estate and for the growing clinical intensity and value of medical office buildings of the future. Quality buildings occupied by major healthcare providers serving patients with greater and more acute services means durable, long-term occupancy with growth in revenue that can support the operating costs associated with occupancy. Medical real estate is expected to grow and perform in the same resilient manner in the future which will be positive for the owners of the properties.

Recent Activity – New Listing – Investment Sale

Central Illinois MOB Portfolio – 321,355 s.f. – Decatur and Peoria, IL
Closed – Debt Placement

Hoag Health Center – MOBs & Urgent Care – 159,235 s.f. – Irvine, CA
Closed – Debt Placement

114 Pacifica Court – 110,392 s.f. – Irvine, CA
Closed – Investment Sale

Brookfield Commons – 91,186 s.f. – Richmond, VA
Closed – Investment Sale

Omega Medical Center – 77,511 s.f. – Rockville, MD
Closed – Equity Placement

Thomas Park Investments – 55,608 s.f. – Haverhill, MA
Closed – Debt Placement

Oakwood Medical Park – 36,419 s.f. – Round Rock, TX
Closed – Investment Sale

Fertility Centers of Illinois – 30,264 s.f. – Glenview, IL

 

Source: HREI

New Report Signals Growth In Behavioral Health Sector

A new report from Colliers International signals there is a rising demand for behavioral health services in the US.

Construction for behavioral health hospitals has increased dramatically since 2017, according to the report. In 2018, the supply level was 3.8 million square feet. By 2019, that figure more than doubled to 8.1 million square feet. In 2020, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector is still growing with 6.4 million square feet set to deliver this year.

While construction costs are declining due to the pandemic, the costs for behavioral health hospitals are expected to hold steady in 2020 at $403.60 per square foot, which is up from $346.80 per square foot just in 2018.

The report states that while in any given year one in four Americans is impacted by behavioral health conditions there is a shortage of behavioral health physicians. Kaiser Foundation research found the US was only fulfilling around 44% of its need for mental healthcare professionals. One of the biggest factors affecting the shortage is the cost of care.

Colliers found the average cost per bed in a behavioral health asset averages $330,000. The Advisory Board said that treating patients with behavioral health diagnoses costs $900 more per month than for patients with no behavioral health diagnosis. As a result, less than half of patients receive treatment, according to Colliers.

And now, COVID-19 is placing an unprecedented impact on behavioral health services. In late March, a McKinsey survey found 63% of respondents were feeling anxious, depressed or both.

“The anxiety, stress, financial strife, grief, and general uncertainty of this time will undoubtedly lead to behavioral health crises,” McKinsey said in their survey.

The pandemic has signaled the greater need to integrate both physical and behavioral health. The company stated that integration between the two services could help lessen the shortage of people getting help.

Colliers echoed that sentiment by stating “the majority of patients with a behavioral health diagnosis also have a medical comorbidity.”

One of the suggestions from Colliers is screening in both physical and behavioral health settings. Moving forward, Colliers said the success of behavioral health services is dependent on a system where physical and behavioral conditions are treated together and where private/public partnerships occur more often. The 10 largest behavioral health hospitals in the U.S. are all either government-run or owned by nonprofits.

They note that the success of Orange County, CA initiative BeWell OC is just one example of what the healthcare system could look like in the future. The “wellness hub” was a public/private development.

 

Source: GlobeSt.

Investor Interest In Medical Properties Continues: JLL Closes $142.9M Sale Of 50-Property National Investment Grade Portfolio

JLL announced today that it has closed the $142.9 million sale of a 50-property national investment grade portfolio totaling approximately 430,000 square feet across 22 states.

JLL represented the seller, Elliott Bay Capital Trust, and procured the buyer, a publicly traded REIT.

The sale of the Elliott Bay Dialysis Portfolio is a multi-state portfolio containing single tenant dialysis clinics leased to the two largest U.S. dialysis providers, Fresenius Medical Care and DaVita. The net lease properties are 100 percent occupied and backed by investment grade credit or New York Stock Exchange public companies.

Well located across 22 states in desirable major U.S. metro areas, the properties have mission critical infrastructure providing life sustaining dialysis treatment.  The significant investment in the fit out at these locations and arduous Medicare certification and state licensing creates high retention rates and long-term, inelastic tenancy – one of the main drivers for dialysis clinic investment.  Dialysis remains a fundamental and non-discretionary segment of healthcare services that has a long-term trajectory of growth and profitability regardless of the macroeconomic environment.

The sale was a collaboration between JLL’s Healthcare, Corporate Finance and Net Lease verticals led by Managing Director Mindy Berman and Vice President, Brannan Knott, Senior Vice Presidents Peter Bauman and Tivon Moffitt.

Knott, from JLL Capital Markets, Healthcare, described the portfolio as, “a rare, highly durable income portfolio, tenanted by the nation’s leading dialysis providers.  This is the exact investment profile attracting many investors into this sector and is supported by macro demographic trends of the nation’s aging baby-boomers and increased incidence of end-stage renal disease driving significant increases in dialysis demand for the foreseeable future.”

“JLL sees no slowdown in demand for medical office investments,” Berman added.  “We’ve seen consistent annual sales of $9 to $10 billion in the medical office sector and 2019 should be on pace with recent years.”

“Due to the portfolio mix of investment-grade and high-quality dialysis clinics, JLL was able to achieve excellent pricing for the seller with an accelerated closing time period,” Bauman said.

“Single-tenant medical properties and portfolios remain in high demand across various capital sources,” Moffitt added.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm’s in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients — whether investment advisory, debt placement, equity placement or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,700 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

 

Source: HREI