Health Beat: Healthcare REIT snaps up CHI medical assets in 10 states

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HEALTHCARE REIT SNAPS UP CHI MEDICAL ASSETS IN 10 STATES

Physicians Realty Trust, a self-managed healthcare properties Real Estate Investment Trust, has agreed to a deal to purchase 47 medical office facilities, signed a letter of intent for three medical office facilities and is negotiating to purchase two additional medical office facilities owned and anchored by Catholic Health Initiatives regional health systems for a total purchase price of approximately $724.9 million. CHI, the nation’s fifth-largest nonprofit healthcare system, is parent company CHI St. Vincent Health System in Little Rock and several other Arkansas communities.

There was no word on whether or not any of the 52 medical office facilities Physicians Realty is acquiring are located in Arkansas, but the Wisconsin-based REIT said the properties contain nearly 3.2 million rentable square feet located in 10 states. The CHI portfolio is also 94.4% leased and the weighted average lease term remaining is 8.6 years. The purchase price includes $32.9 million of future capital improvements, the majority of which should be completed within 5 years, the company said.

BLUE RIBBON PANEL ANNOUNCED TO HELP GUIDE VP BIDEN’S NATIONAL CANCER MOONSHOT INITIATIVE

On Monday (April 4), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, announced a Blue Ribbon Panel of scientific experts, cancer leaders, and patient advocates that will inform the scientific direction and goals at NCI of Vice President Joe Biden’s National Cancer Moonshot Initiative. The panel will serve as a working group of the presidentially appointed National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) and will provide scientific guidance from thought-leaders in the cancer community.

Over the next several months, the panel will consider how to advance the themes that have been proposed for the initiative. The themes include the development of cancer vaccines, highly sensitive approaches to early detection, advances in immunotherapy and combination therapies, single-cell genomic profiling of cancer cells and cells in the tumor microenvironment, enhanced data sharing, and new approaches to the treatment of pediatric cancers.

FINAL RULE EXTENDS NEW RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTIONS TO SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAM BENEFICIARIES

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, along with other federal agencies, published a final rule that will provide new religious liberty protections for beneficiaries of federally funded social service programs, while also adding new protections for the ability of religious providers to compete for government funds on the same basis as any other private organization. The regulations – which are being published after public notice and comment – formally implements Executive Order 13559.

While these regulations become effective 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, recipients of Federal financial assistance have until 90 days after publication in the Federal Register to satisfy the new obligations in the final regulations. For more information on the final rule, visit here.