(6/29/2020)
Real estate may not be a typical service in integrate facilities management, but it is an important aspect of maintaining and growing physical healthcare spaces. There should be a level of collaboration between real estate, construction and emergency management departments. During the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate has been an essential part of facilities management as space needed to be identified and secured for the influx of patients quickly and efficiently. Our Real Estate team at Medxcel is a recent addition that has streamlined this process and allowed for our facilities to successfully care for surges of patients during the crisis.
At the time of writing, there are currently
over 2 million cases and at least 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. While real estate may not seem as critical when battling an infectious disease outbreak, it is what allows healthcare professionals to have the appropriate physical space needed to treat and care for patients. The Harvard Global Health Institute estimated that in
40% of markets around the country, hospitals would not be able to make enough room for all the patients who became ill with COVID-19. Facilities everywhere are feeling the weight of the growing number of patients and acquiring real estate has allowed many teams to alleviate this pressure.
Incorporating real estate into Medxcel’s portfolio has enabled our teams to find and set up drive-thru testing clinics, arrange storage facilities and receive and deploy FEMA tents. Acquiring and utilizing these spaces has been crucial to the success of our response to the pandemic.
Our Real Estate team was able to increase bed capacity by utilizing spaces that were already available and by going into the broader market to procure buildings within the community. By thinking outside the box and being innovative, our patients were able to receive the care they needed in a comfortable and functional environment. Medxcel teams are committed to having ongoing conversations on how to prepare for the next emergency and grow beyond this crisis.
It can be a challenge to negotiate for facilities that provide healthcare at scale. The foresight and flexibility of the Real Estate team has given our teams the ability to address the current needs to handle a pandemic surge. Our teams have also been able to plan for future real estate needs to create a long-term systemic impact.
Integrating real estate with other facility management functions has enhanced our hospitals and healthcare facilities’ patient experience by avoiding gaps and delays in securing physical spaces to provide care. Our Real Estate team continues to play a key role in the property management, lease administration, development and portfolio strategy for Medxcel.
Interested in connecting with us? Contact us at
info@medxcel.com or 855-633-9235.