Two NexCore Healthcare Projects Named 2017 HREI Insights Awards™ Finalists

Two healthcare facilities developed by NexCore Group have been honored as Finalists in Healthcare Real Estate Insights™ magazine’s annual, national awards program. NexCore, which is headquartered in Denver, developed the facilities in Tampa, Fla., and Marysville, Ohio.

The HREI Insights Awards™ are the first and only national awards dedicated to recognizing excellence in the areas of healthcare real estate (HRE) development and executive leadership. The awards are presented by Healthcare Real Estate Insights™ magazine, the first and only national magazine entirely devoted to covering HRE development, financing and investment.

Todd Varney, NexCore Managing Principal, remarked, “We are proud that HREI magazine has recognized two of NexCore’s projects again this year — Women’s Care Florida Women’s Health Center and Walnut Crossing Assisted Living & Memory Care — as Finalists in their prestigious annual awards program. NexCore’s constant mission is to help clients overcome obstacles and maximize opportunities to deliver the highest quality healthcare with the best, most efficient and cost-effective facilities possible. These two Finalists illustrate the success of our team’s strategies and processes toward that goal.”

NexCore projects were named Finalists 10 times and Winners three times in the four previous years of the highly competitive HREI Insights Awards™ program, whose results are announced each December.

The NexCore-developed projects that were named 2017 Finalists are:

Women’s Care Florida Women’s Health Center, Tampa, Fla.

A Finalist in the “Best New Development, MOBs and Other Outpatient Facilities, 50,000 to 99,999 square feet” Category, Women’s Care Florida Women’s Health Center is a three-story, 63,289 square foot Specialty Women’s Health Center with an Ambulatory Surgical Center, Cancer Treatment, and Imaging located in a growing Westshore district of Tampa. The facility, completed in October 2017 and due to open January 2018, allowed client Women’s Care Florida (WCF) to create a premier outpatient center providing comprehensive, 21st century women’s care and surgical services in a convenient location.

After being selected in a competitive RFP process, NexCore engaged WCF’s 160 physicians in its physician investment program whereby individual physicians purchase equity shares to achieve real estate returns as part of a long-term hold strategy. In addition, NexCore provided WCF with speed-to-market: in the acquisition of the site, improving WCF’s preliminary site plan and building design, securing entitlements, and breaking ground just eight months after being awarded the project. NexCore started work at-risk on the engineering and design of the building while working with state and local municipalities on entitlement and use approvals to keep the project moving forward on a fast track. NexCore maximized the building area on the site to provide WCF with additional usable square footage, while maximizing parking to meet the challenging requirements of the Westshore District.

The new facility allows WCF to enhance patient satisfaction with a conveniently located, patient-centered, one-stop care center, offering quality healthcare services such as maternal-fetal medicine, gynecology, urogynecology and ambulatory surgery. Additionally, WCF is now able to provide cancer treatment, which expands its service line and improves patient convenience. Finally, the facility will create several dozen new full-time jobs in the Tampa community.

Walnut Crossing Assisted Living & Memory Care, Marysville, Ohio

A Finalist in the “Post-Acute & Senior Living Facilities Best New Ground-Up Development” Category, Walnut Crossing Assisted Living & Memory Care is a one-story, 52,934 square foot assisted living and memory care facility in the Columbus, Ohio, suburb of Marysville.

NexCore and its client Meridian recognized the Marysville market was underserved in terms of modern, first-class assisted living/memory care facilities. No facility in the market had the latest programmatic offerings, operating model or design solution reflecting best practices supported by research. The existing assisted living facilities or nursing homes were aged, and simply blocked off a wing designated for memory care residents, or were completely outmoded by new thinking and design innovations.

Using a newly created Assisted Living/Memory Care prototype, the NexCore team created a design solution that residents and families associate with hospitality rather than sterile institutional settings. Careful consideration was given to resident, adult children and care team experiences, resulting in a warm residential design that embodies the cultural values of the Marysville community. The interior design draws from local elements such as Ohio rural architecture: barn doors, a gambrel roof and wrought iron light fixtures. Residents have multiple room options: studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. For operational safety and staffing efficiency in the Memory Care unit, an open floor plan with a sky-lit path was created, providing a direct sightline from the caregiver desk. The facility encourages resident engagement with activity areas, sensory gardens, life stations, lounge areas, a bistro and a front porch. Technological features such as resident-alert products, electronic medication administration record keeping and Wi-Fi were included for resident independence and the highest level of care.

NexCore delivered rates comparable to the older facilities in the market; reduced staff travel distance to dining areas and increased the building area devoted to memory care activity space without increasing the budget or sacrificing key performance metrics. In addition to providing in-house medical services for residents, providing limited access points for resident safety and improving sightlines of staff to memory care resident rooms, the facility’s architectural design makes a connection to the local community through local art, thereby engaging community members within the facility. The facility also makes the transition to Assisted Living/Memory Care more seamless for residents with its open floor plan and increases memory care staff time engaged with residents. Consistent lighting levels throughout daylight and nightfall maintain residents’ circadian rhythms, and memory care residents are actively engaged outside their rooms for long periods, allowing them to sleep soundly through the night.

The HREI Insights Awards™ will be presented to the Winners at a public luncheon ceremony Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017, at the RealShare HRE Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., one of the year’s largest gatherings of HRE professionals and healthcare executives. For more information on the awards, please see HREInsights.com.