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Q Steve Brown ExECuTiVE diRECTOR, CuSHmAN & WAkEfiEld/NORTHmARq HEAlTHCARE AdViSORy gROuP Q How do all of the recent changes in health care affect real estate? A: The changing patient care model is prompting providers to assess how older facilities may be inefficient in facilitating a team-based care model and to replace these facilities to better accommodate care needs. Demand from the newly insured and aging population demographics, alongside the emphasis on moving from an inpatient to an outpatient care model, means providers are examining new market opportunities to better address the increase in patient needs. Acquisitions, partnerships and affiliations are driving decisions to consolidate or close redundant locations to streamline costs. A more critical eye is now being placed on operational costs — a large portion of which comes from real estate obligations. For larger systems and independent practices that own their own facilities, capitalizing real estate assets provides broader flexibility to leverage a changing care environment, while releasing capital for other uses. Q How does your company help address clients' specific healthcare real estate needs? A: We lend our healthcare-focused real estate expertise to create a strategy that complements their core initiatives and internal resources to help execute their plans. Because we represent only users of healthcare space, we are able to navigate this highly regulated landscape — dealing with Stark law and other compliance issues, including patient privacy laws. Our Healthcare Advisory Group has experience with on- and offcampus medical requirements, serving both large healthcare systems and independent practices across numerous specialties and subspecialties. Our company also offers a full range of commercial real estate services — such as project management, property and facility management, leasing, investment sales, and strategic advisory — which provide a unique and comprehensive menu of services to the healthcare marketplace. Q What services does Cushman & Wakefield/Northmarq's Healthcare Advisory group offer? A: We provide real estate consulting and advisory services to healthcare organizations, hospital systems and clinical practices both locally and nationally. We deliver solutions blending our healthcare expertise with strategies and techniques used in other core areas of commercial real estate, including retail, office and even industrial. We &A have advised nearly 200 clients, creating unique solutions based upon the individual drivers for the system or clinic. In addition, the company has deep expertise in the medical office/healthcare sector, where my colleagues manage nearly 1 million square feet of medical office space in the market. Our services include strategic planning, site selection, ownership restructuring, acquisitions and dispositions, relocation analysis, lease negotiation, sale/leaseback, lease administration, property and facility management, and project management. Q What sets you apart from your competitors? A: For nearly 30 years, we've been providing real estate services to the healthcare marketplace. During that time, we've created a health care-focused real estate platform. We remain today a one-of-a-kind advisory practice focused solely on the individual needs of the healthcare provider. Our team understands the unique requirements and challenges of the healthcare environment and applies this knowledge in developing solutions that meet these distinct needs — especially as reform is implemented. Based on anticipated changes, our team has recently begun incorporating assisted living and skilled nursing into the practice. We are humbled to be recognized by our healthcare peers and honored to be named to Minnesota Business Magazine's 2013 Business Partners Dream Team for our "strategic professional services that have helped guide and support healthcare organizations with notable success." We were the only real estate company to receive the honor. For more information about Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq's Healthcare Advisory Group, call 952-831-1000, send a fax to 1-888-388-0221, email healthcare@ cushwakenm.com or visit healthcare.cushwakenm.com. You may follow the group on Twitter @CWNMHealthcare. ■ ABouT STEvE BRoWN Serving as Executive Director of Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq's Healthcare Advisory Group, Steve Brown is responsible for providing real estate consulting and advisory services to healthcare organizations, corporations and clinical practices both locally and throughout the United States. Brown earned the Certified Commercial Investment Member designation in 1997. He is a graduate of Colorado College, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in business and economics. MdNewS.CoM ■ MD News Twin Cities | 11