There has been "an uptick in physicians selling their practices" since the start of the pandemic, said Allison Nelson, co-deputy chair of the real estate group for law firm Akerman, in an interview with GlobeSt.com.
Ms. Nelson regularly does mergers and acquisitions work for local healthcare systems. She said the uncertainty of COVID-19 has led small solo practitioners and even mid-sized or regional practice groups to consider selling or shutting down. Axios reported on this emerging trend in April.
"If there is a large healthcare system that's coming in and wanting to buy their practice, I think that this is helping them decide to go ahead and sell," Ms. Nelson told GlobeSt.com. "The individual practitioners have been hit hard [by COVID-19], and even the hospitals, because they're losing revenue from elective surgery. This is unlike the 2008 downturn, where I didn't see that much of an impact on the healthcare industry."
Office landlords may see larger healthcare systems as more "creditworthy" tenants, although they may request additional regulatory language in their leases, more sufficient parking space, additional signage, or other work to be done, Ms. Nelson said.