Meridian receives national healthcare real estate awards for hospital renovation

Real estate developer and medical real estate owner Meridian has received two HREI Insights Awards in the categories of "Best Renovated or Repurposed Healthcare Facility" and "Best New Medical Office Buildings and Other Outpatient Facilities under 25,000 square feet."

Sponsored by Healthcare Real Estate Insights magazine, the HREI Insights Awards program is the only national award program solely dedicated to recognizing excellence in the areas of healthcare real estate development and executive leadership.

[Also: MeridianCare partners with Oak Street Health in value-based contract]

Cotton Medical Center, Meridian's 115,000-square-foot, two-building medical office complex in Pasadena, California won the award for "Best Renovated or Repurposed Healthcare Facility." Located in Los Angeles, this renovation was Meridian's first ambulatory outpatient medical office acquisition in southern California.

"We wanted to make sure we capitalized on this opportunity by not only modernizing the buildings, but also improving the patient experience," said Meridian CEO John Pollock in a statement.

The outdated 1970s building interiors and common waiting areas were upgraded to modern finishes with patient-friendly wayfinding signage. Meridian also added fire sprinklers to the buildings which now allows for additional uses such as dialysis, sleep centers and surgery centers.

"We made all of the upgrades as energy-efficient as possible, which has resulted in 15 percent lower operating expenses and a more environmentally-friendly building," said Pollock. "Overall the upgrades have provided hospital-affiliated doctors an upscale environment for easier physician recruiting and overall patient experience." Meridian is currently on track to bring occupancy from the original 71 percent at acquisition to market level.

Meridian's 12,750-square-foot two-story medical office building in Oakland, California, was the winner for "Best New Medical Office Buildings and Other Outpatient Facilities under 25,000 square feet."

"Our client wanted the site to be located in an extremely busy corridor in Oakland, which has very limited development opportunities so finding a suitable building site was an immense challenge," said Pollock. "After a diligent search, we were able to assemble four lots to create a 17,600-square-foot parcel in the desired location. The tightness of the site required demolition of three buildings while maintaining the structural integrity of a 25-foot-high retaining wall behind the buildings."

Through collaboration and flexibility, Meridian was able to develop an upgraded medical office building design in a retail environment that exemplifies the new trend towards the retailization of medicine. The medical office building was delivered in June 2017 after just 10 months of construction.

This is Meridian's fourth HREI National award in four years. In 2013, Meridian was honored with "Best New Medical Office Buildings and Other Outpatient Facilities under 25,000 square feet" for its 9,075-square-foot outpatient clinic in San Jose, California. And in 2015 it won "Best Renovated or Repurposed Healthcare Facility" for its 72,000-square-foot medical office building in Rohnert Park, California.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com