Vital Healthcare buys properties to expand Adelaide hospital

Wednesday 23rd December 2015

Vital Healthcare Property Trust, the listed hospital owner and developer, has bought two parcels of land to expand its orthopaedic surgery hospital in Adelaide, Australia.

The property investor spent A$5.2 million acquiring the land alongside its 49 bed Sportsmed Private Hospital and associated clinic in Adelaide, Vital Healthcare's manager said in a statement. On one of the properties, it will build a A$9.5 million stand-alone medical consulting building adjacent to the main hospital, while the other property houses the administration and executive offices of the hospital operator Sportsmed SA Hospitals, and could potentially be redeveloped over the medium term to support clinical growth at Sportsmed, it said.

Vital Healthcare is investing in private hospital facilities in New Zealand and Australia as it expects demand to increase from an ageing population, a rise in chronic disease and higher patient expectations. About 47 percent of Australians have private health care cover for hospitals, compared to about 30 percent of New Zealanders.

“This development will allow Sportsmed SA to deliver a full service offer to patients with radiology, pathology, physio and additional medical consulting, supporting an already full range of orthopaedic surgical activities at Sportsmed," said David Carr, chief executive of Vital Healthcare's manger. "It’s great to now move to the next phase of growth with the Sportsmed SA team which is consistent with our ‘creating capacity to meet demand’ theme over recent years.”

On settlement of the acquisitions, Sportsmed SA will enter into 20 year lease terms and has also agreed to reset the existing hospital lease to 20 years from 17 years.

Construction is likely to start early 2016 and take 12 months, it said.

The trust's units last traded at $1.885 and have advanced 20 percent this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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