SAVANNAH, GA. — Medical suppliers are using the Port of Savannah to ship equipment to hospitals across the state and the Southeast. The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) is collaborating with companies such as Drive Medical, which is a major supplier of beds, IV poles and other goods, to supply items needed at COVID-19 pop-up hospitals around the country. GPA is providing information such as vessel status, estimated time of arrival and container availability, as well as expedited container processing for cargo destined for COVID-19 hotspots such as New York, Detroit and New Orleans. With help from shipping lines and cargo owners, GPA can also identify containers, locate them on the vessel via U.S. Customs manifests and speed vessel discharge for specific containers. Most of the supplies are moving through the Garden City Terminal.
SHENANDOAH, TEXAS — The University of St. Thomas, a private Catholic college in Houston, has signed a medical office lease in the northern Houston suburb of Shenandoah. The tenant will occupy 20,000 square feet at 121 Vision Park Boulevard, a 58,000-square-foot medical office building that was completed in mid-2019, to support its nursing program. Beth Young of Colliers International represented the university in the lease negotiations. Lisa Hughes and Pamela Sprouse of The J. Beard Real Estate Co. represented the landlord, a partnership between Everson Developments and VP2 Partners.
ROYAL OAK, MICH. — Beaumont Health says that the financial consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the organization to adjust its workforce after suffering significant losses during the first quarter. After Beaumont began caring for COVID-19 patients five weeks ago, nearly all inpatient and outpatient surgeries and other non-COVID-19 medical services had to be halted. As a result, Beaumont is temporarily laying off 2,475 of its 38,000 employees. It is also permanently eliminating 450 positions and cutting executive pay. CEO John Fox will take a 70 percent temporary pay cut to his base salary. The other members of Beaumont’s executive leadership team will also take temporary pay cuts up to 45 percent of their total compensation. Of the 2,475 layoffs, most involve hospital administrative staff and others who are not directly caring for patients. Most of the 450 position eliminations are part of the corporate staff or serving in other administrative roles. Beaumont will also pause or cancel some nonessential projects. For the first three months of 2020, Beaumont reported a net operating income of -$54.1 million, a $91.7 million decrease compared to the same time last year. The Royal Oak-based nonprofit hospital is Michigan’s largest healthcare system. It …
LOS ANGELES — Verity Health System has sold the 381-bed St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles for $135 million. The hospital is currently operating on a temporary lease with the State of California as a surge facility for treating COVID-19 patients. The buyer, surgeon and medical researcher Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, will continue to honor the lease with the state, while also using several buildings as facilities for COVID-19 research. Soon-Shiong is the principal officer of the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, a California-based private grantmaking organization. “Verity Health is proud of its partnership with the State of California and is confident that Dr. Soon-Shiong and his team will continue to enhance the collaboration with the state and local government to address COVID-19,” says Rich Adcock, CEO of Verity Health. Verity Health System filed for bankruptcy in summer 2018. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles recently approved the sale of the nonprofit’s assets, including St. Francis Medical Center in Lynwood to Prime Healthcare. Located at 213 W. 3rd St. in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul originally opened the hospital in 1856. The property closed …
PHILADELPHIA — The Wistar Institute, a nonprofit infectious disease and vaccine research institution, has preleased an 8,000-square-foot research lab space in Philadelphia. The space, which will be known as Wistar Discovery Center, will be located on the third floor of 3.0 University Place, a 250,000-square-foot life sciences office development in the University City area. Wistar will maintain its headquarters at 3601 Spruce St. The building is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2021. University Place Associates is the developer.
CHICAGO — The temporary conversion of a portion of Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center into an alternate care facility for COVID-19 patients is expected to be complete by Friday, April 24. Walsh Construction, the contractor for the project, completed the first 500 beds earlier this month. The facility will have the capacity to treat up to 3,000 low-to-moderate acuity patients across three of the convention center’s halls. Patients will be separated by the level of care required. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are directing the conversion of the temporary field hospital. The project is designed to relieve pressure on the city’s hospital system by freeing up beds for more patients with severe COVID-19 cases in anticipation of a surge in positive diagnoses. Stantec provided design and engineering services for the project.
FLORISSANT, MO. — Tarlton Corp. has completed the conversion of a Quality Inn hotel in Florissant into the state’s first alternate care facility to treat non-acute COVID-19 patients. The facility, if needed, will serve as backup for patients referred by St. Louis-area hospitals. Members of the Missouri National Guard will staff the facility. Tarlton worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the project, as well as Ross & Baruzzini, Rock Hill Mechanical Corp. and Guarantee Electrical Co. The 4.5-day project yielded more than 100 patient rooms on the four floors of the 130-room hotel. The team built a nurse’s station on each floor and turned the existing phone system into a nurse call system. The project assignment came just hours after Tarlton President Tracy Hart and COO Dirk Elsperman lost their father, Bob Elsperman, to COVID-19. Bob Elsperman led Tarlton from 1972 to1999. He was admitted to a St. Louis-area hospital on March 30 and died eight days later at the age of 83.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Eastie Realty LLC, a Boston-based investment firm, has purchased a 13,818-square-foot medical office building in Providence for $3.5 million. Located at 111 Plain St., the property is fully leased to Rhode Island Hospital, the flagship hospital of Lifespan Health System. The building is also located near Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Women & Infants Hospital and Brown University’s medical campus. Joseph Alvarado, George Deoulas and Casey Valente of Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller, Legacy Real Estate Ventures, in the deal. The team also procured Eastie as the buyer.
HADDON HEIGHTS, N.J. — Premier Dermatology has signed a 5,214-square-foot medical office lease in Haddon Heights, a southeastern suburb of Philadelphia. Located at 500 Grove St., the 31,800-square-foot building was completed in 1975 and offers quick access to Interstate 295. Other tenants include clinical diagnostic company LabCorp, nonprofit healthcare company Virtua and American Water Co. Mike Scanzano of Wolf Commercial Real Estate (WCRE) represented Premier Dermatology in the lease negotiations. Ryan Barikian, also with WCRE, represented the landlord, 500 Grove Associates LLC.
LYNWOOD, CALIF. — Prime Healthcare, a private healthcare system based in Ontario, Calif., has agreed to acquire St. Francis Medical Center, a 384-bed hospital in the Los Angeles County suburb of Lynwood. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles recently approved Prime Healthcare’s purchase agreement with the seller, Verity Health System, a California-based healthcare system that filed for bankruptcy in summer 2018. As part of the agreement, Prime Healthcare will purchase St. Francis Medical Center for more than $350 million, which includes a $200 million base price and a $15 million in payroll and benefits for staff. The firm will also invest $47 million to make technological and system upgrades, as well as finalize employee agreements with the hospital’s current staff. The remaining balance of the purchase price was not specifically categorized. Prime Healthcare has agreed to honor the Attorney General and Bankruptcy Court conditions recently issued for this sale to preserve the hospital, trauma care, service lines, charity commitments and community benefit programs. “Our agreement with Verity reflects our decades-long mission of saving, improving and investing in community hospitals,” said Dr. Sunny Bhatia, Prime Healthcare’s Region 1 CEO and corporate chief medical officer. …