Becker's ASC Review

50 JOINT VENTURES Physicians sell Pennsylvania ASC, medical office building for $15.2M — 6 things to know By Angie Stewart A physician group sold its practice space in Stroudsburg, Pa., for $15.2 million in July. Six details: 1. More than 25 physicians owned and practiced out of the 37,976-square-foot Pocono Ambulatory Surgical Center and Medical Building, which was purchased by IRA Capital. 2. e property includes a 17,600-square- foot ASC and an attached 20,736-square-foot medical building with an additional surgery center. 3. Pocono Ambulatory Surgery Center fully occupies the ASC, as well as 73 percent of the medical building. East Stroudsburg, Pa.- based Pocono Medical Center, a subsidiary of Allentown, Pa.-based Lehigh Valley Health Network, leases the remaining space. 4. Physicians practicing at the center offer services including gastroenterology, gynecol- ogy, neurology, ophthalmology, otolaryngol- ogy, oral care, orthopedics, pain manage- ment, plastics, podiatry, spine care, urology and pediatrics. 5. A partnership between the physicians, Deerfield, Ill.-based Surgical Care Affiliates and Pocono Medical Center, Pocono Am- bulatory Surgery Center serves as the lease guarantor. 6. e surgery center tenant had less than seven years of lease term remaining when the asset was taken to market, according to Cushman & Wakefield, which represented the seller in the transaction. e real estate firm helped negotiate a new 15-year lease. "is simultaneous lease negotiation increased seller proceeds upon sale and se- cured a long-term tenant for the buyer," said Cushman & Wakefield's Scott Niedergang. n CMS proposes making it easier for some physician-owned hospitals to expand: 4 details By Laura Dyrda C MS proposed removing some provisions in the expan- sion exception process for physician-owned hospitals that serve high numbers of Medicaid inpatients in the 2021 Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule. Four things to know: 1. CMS proposed eliminating the cap on the number of additional operating rooms, procedure rooms and beds that could be approved as an exception to the moratorium on physician-owned hospitals for high-Medicaid facilities, de- fined as those serving more Medicaid inpatients than other hospitals in their counties. 2. The agency also proposed removing the provision that restricts approved expansion to the hospital's main campus. 3. High-Medicaid facilities are able to apply for exceptions more than once every two years but can only submit one request at a time. 4. CMS proposed defining bed count as the number of licensed beds regardless of the number of beds on the physical license issued by the state to determine the hospi- tal's baseline bed count. The update would give physician- owned hospitals more flexibility to qualify as high-Medicaid facilities. n Ohio ASC establishes value- based partnership — 6 details By Angie Stewart C olumbus, Ohio-based Taylor Station Surgical Center is now part of BridgeHealth's centers of excellence program, according to a July 28 announcement. Six things to know: 1. BridgeHealth recognized Taylor Station Surgical Center for demonstrating excellence in patient satis- faction, safety and outcomes. 2. For its plan sponsor clients, BridgeHealth said the ASC "increases access to affordable, high-quality" general, women's health and orthopedic services. 3. Jeffrey Turner, MD, serves as president at Taylor Sta- tion Surgical Center, which is part of Columbus-based Mount Carmel Health System. 4. The ASC's quality and safety has previously been recognized by the American Society for Gastrointesti- nal Endoscopy. 5. BridgeHealth provides value-based care coordina- tion services to patients before and during proce- dures. 6. In July, Nashville, Tenn.-based Surgery Partners expanded its partnership with BridgeHealth. n

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