September 2016 — Health Care Properties Quarterly —
Page 9
Tenant Woes?
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GRIFFIS BLESSING
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ails your Medical Office property
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has provided award winning
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Trends
T
here are many reasons Colo-
rado residents – as well as
residents across the country
– don’t get the health care
services they need.
he 2015 Colorado Health Access
Survey found that 18.7 percent of res-
idents couldn’t get an appointment
as soon as they needed one. Other
reasons cited were “can’t take time
off work” (10.6 percent), “couldn’t find
child care” (7.9 percent) and “lacked
transportation to the doctor’s office”
or “it was too far away” (4.7 percent).
More and more Colorado residents
(and all consumers, for that matter)
want different health care facility
models that will address their needs
for improved convenience and access
– important factors that are man-
dated by the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act. Accordingly, con-
sumers have been flocking to more
convenient outpatient facilities.
The American Hospital Association
reported that from 2010 to 2014, the
annual number of inpatient hospital
admissions declined by more than 2
million to 33.1 million. Compare that
to the total number of outpatient
facility visits, which increased to
693.1 million in 2014 from 651.4 four
years earlier.
The PPACA also requires that
health care providers reduce costs,
enhance staff efficiency and produc-
tivity, and build a collaborative, team-
based approach to medicine. This
means that health care executives
must plan and implement different
systems than in the past, including
innovative, new medical facilities
that will address these many needs.
Historically, when someone referred
to a “community hospital,” they were
usually referring
to a scaled-down
general hospital in
a smaller town or
rural area. These
areas typically
had more limited
resources and
smaller popula-
tions, which neces-
sitated the develop-
ment of facilities
that offered fewer
and/or less inten-
sive services. Com-
munity hospitals
were often perceived as inferior to
major hospitals and medical centers
in larger urban areas.
Not so for today’s community
hospital. A new type of community
hospital, sometimes referred to as a
microhospital, has emerged. These
facilities are smaller for strategic rea-
sons – not out of necessity – and they
are often located in desirable subur-
ban areas.
Like conventional inpatient hospi-
tals, they are independently licensed
and recognized by the state and the
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Ser-
vices, which means they qualify for
government reimbursement. They
are also staffed by board-certified
physicians, are open 24/7 and offer
an extensive range of emergency and
nonemergency services and inpatient
and operating room capabilities. Yet
this new breed of community hospi-
tal also provides many benefits over
both traditional hospitals and retail-
oriented facilities that offer more
limited health care services.
Great examples of this reimagined
form of community hospital are the
SCL-Emerus Health facilities that
have recently been built near Denver
in the communities of Westminster,
Littleton, Aurora and Northglenn.
These community hospitals are a
joint venture between SCL Health
System, a faith-based nonprofit, and
Emerus, a national provider of medi-
cal care, and were developed by Duke
Realty. The hospitals are located in
easily accessible neighborhood set-
tings and are smaller than inpatient
hospitals – 30,000 to 50,000 square
feet – and, thus, easier to navigate
than large, complex hospital cam-
puses.
But despite their small size, they
offer the same type of comprehen-
sive health care services that are
typically found on a larger hospital
campus – and all in one location. This
includes emergency and nonemer-
gency medical care, labor and deliv-
ery services, inpatient care, a wide
range of surgical procedures, exten-
sive on-site laboratory and radiology
services and other comprehensive
multispecialty services.
SCL and Emerus officials note that
their community hospitals are part of
the partnership’s strategy of expand-
ing health care to the growing Denver
region, and providing residents with
cost-effective medical services, great-
er convenience and “an enhanced
patient experience.”
In addition to Colorado, commu-
nity hospitals are being developed in
other states, including Texas, Nevada
and Arizona. Health care systems
typically partner with companies
specializing in community hospi-
tal models and use these facilities
to expand into favorable markets
with limited competition and good
demographics without incurring the
Keith Konkoli
Executive vice
president, health
care, Duke Realty,
Indianapolis
A look at the SCL-Emerus community hospital in Westminster
