North Philadelphia Health System has sold an
underutilized building and adjacent parking lot next to St. Joseph’s Hospital
for $4.5 million
The properties on the 1500 block of Girard Avenue were
purchased by West Girard Holdings LLC of Philadelphia.
George Walmsley III, the president and CEO of North
Philadelphia Health System said part of the building had been used by a day
care center years ago, but was currently only occupied by the corporate offices
for the health system.
“When somebody came in with the right price, we said that
sounds like a deal,” said Walmsley, who added he believes the developer wants
to build "high-end" apartments on the site.
The bulk of the proceeds from the sale will be used by
the health system to pay down debt it occurred when it took out a loan with
Beneficial Bank to finance the construction of a new 9,100-square-foot
emergency department at St. Joseph’s Hospital, which is on the 1600 block of
Girard Avenue. That project was completed in 2008.
North Philadelphia Health System, which serves some of
the poorest neighborhoods in Philadelphia, continues to struggle financially
because of its unfavorable payer mix.
According to the latest report from the Pennsylvania
Health Care Cost Containment Council, St. Joseph’s generated $99 million in
operating revenues while posting a net loss of $1.4 million in fiscal 2014. The
previous year it finished just barely in the black with a $104,000 profit and
$98.5 million in operating revenues.
“The neighborhood around here is changing," Walmsley
said, noting a recent upswing in residential and commercial projects in the
area. “We hope we will get more paying customers with all the economic
development going on around us.”
Earlier this month, a nearby 19-unit apartment property
in the Francisville neighborhood of Philadelphia sold for $2.5 million, or more
than $131,000 a unit. The deal marked the third apartment sale Rittenhouse
Realty completed in the neighborhood in the last year. It previouly sold
buildings at 1509-11 W. Girard Ave. and 1420-24 E. Girard.
St. Joseph’s has expanded its medical staff in recent
years through its relationship with the Drexel University School of Medicine.
For the past several years, North Philadelphia Health
System has contracted with Drexel for doctors to staff St. Joseph’s emergency
department. St. Joseph’s more recently added a cardiology group from Drexel
along with Drexel doctors specializing in gastroenterology and surgery.
North Philadelphia Health System also provides an array
of outpatient and residential behavioral health services at is Girard Medical
Center campus at 8th Street and Girard Avenue.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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