Following an announcement Wednesday by Livingston Street Capital, a Radner, Pa.-based private equity, that it sold the University of Kansas Health System Great Bend Campus facility, UKHS officials want to assure the public that nothing is changing in terms of care at the hospital.
Livingston sold the 63,978-square-foot, 33-bed acute medical center for $39.9 million. UKHS officials couldn’t comment on who bought the property and Livingston had not responded to inquiries as of presstime.
“I think at the end of the day, it is always good for the community to know University of Kansas Health System is rock solid,” said Randy Cason, UKHS regional vice-president for greater Kansas. “We as an organization are a 1,000% committed to the community.”
This marks the third time since UKHS purchased what was Great Bend Regional Hospital in 2018 that the property has sold, Cason said. But, they continue to have a long-term lease to operate the facility.
The transaction was actually initiated last fall and finalized at the first of this year. Health System officials have met with economic development and business leaders in Great Bend already.
“For patients, there is zero impact. It’s just where we send the rent check,” Cason said. “We are focused on delivering health care. We don’t focus on that part of it.”
The system has invested $5-7 million over the past months in the hospital, emphasizing UKHS’s dedication to the facility, Cason said.
When looking at the sale, there is an important distinction that has to be made, said John Wordon, UKHS executive director system integration for clinical operations.
“They acquired the real estate, the building,” he said. “University of Kansas Health System owns the operations. Hospital operations are not impacted by this.”
Also, he said, this only involves the UKHS Great Bend Campus. The University of Kansas Health System St. Rose Medical Pavilion and the system’s ancillary clinics in Great Bend remain owned and operated by the UKHS.
According to a news release from Livingston Street Capital, it acquired the hospital in December 2018. “Appetite for strong credit leased, full-service health-care properties throughout the United States continues to be resilient despite challenges created by the pandemic, presenting an opportune time to capitalize on this investment,” said Peter Scola, Livingston president and Co-CEO.
“The property greatly benefits from its position as the only acute medical care center serving Barton County and hence complemented our ‘necessity-based’ investment thesis,” said Scola. Completed in 2000 with most recent renovations in 2012, the property is a two-story, acute medical center.
“The strengths of the tenancy, combined with the durability of the health-care market, created the perfect environment for us to monetize this investment,” he said. “We made the decision to sell our health-care related investments at this juncture but remain selectively interested in new health-care investment opportunities as we watch the industry emerge from the pandemic. We continue to look toward how the landscape of the health-care industry is evolving and the implications to commercial real estate.”
