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 Healthcare is a huge industry
today and every type of healthcare provider requires
medical office space in which to perform their practice.
Whether the medical office space provides clinical
services, diagnostic services, laboratory services or
another niche of healthcare services, the needs of these
providers differ greatly from the traditional office
rental lease template. Finding medical office space or
office space that would be suitable to transition to medical
office space can be a challenge and is best done by a
professional real estate broker with experience in medical
office space .
Get it Done Right! Use a Medical Office Tenant
Representative.
Here are the top 11 most important
issues and concerns to be aware of securing a medical
office space lease that will help meet the unique needs of
healthcare providers:
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Affordability:
One of the top considerations in deciding where to
lease or purchase medical office space is the cost of
the space. The cost includes not only the rent or
mortgage payment, but also improvement costs necessary
to build it out. Those costs are generally much higher
than those involved in building out conventional
office space and most medical office space leases are
longer, with more options to extend than
conventional office space.
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Convenience:
All healthcare providers need to be in locations
convenient to their patients. Competition can be
fierce among healthcare providers and unless the
office space is convenient, patients will simply go
elsewhere. However, this is also true of traditional
retail and office space. There is a larger concern
with healthcare facilities; they need to have
convenient access for handicapped visitors and those
who are seriously ill. They need parking that is
convenient to the entrance, wheelchair ramps
available, and in some cases, it must be easy for
patients on crutches to access.
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Parking:
Medical office space parking requirements are more
intense than those of conventional office space. A
good rule of thumb is to allow for five parking spaces
per thousand square feet of medical office space.
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Biohazards:
No matter what type of healthcare practitioner is
requesting your assistance in securing office space,
there will be concerns about biohazards. There will
likely be human biohazardous wastes collected and
disposed of by the office space. Diagnostic equipment
such as CT scanners or X-ray machines pose other
hazards. Some landlords may be hesitant to consider
the modifications required for such equipment. Special
shielding, unique to the medical field, may have to be
installed. In most cases, these situations will
violate the standard lease language and need to be
modified.
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Tenant Improvement:
Medical facilities have especially unique requirements
when it comes to building out the inside of the office
space. Traditionally, owners prefer to have any tenant
finish performed by their own contractors, usually
those that have performed similar remodeling for them
in the past. Healthcare providers often require
specialists to properly and safely remodel the office
space. Often, the landlord will need to understand
that the tenant improvement will have to be done by
contractors with whom they are not familiar. The
property owner should retain the right to inspect work
in progress and verify that mechanics liens are not
attached on the property.
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ADA: Medical
facilities often require access for patients with
special needs such as wheelchairs, walkers, crutches,
and canes. They are, therefore, more likely than
average to be scrutinized for Americans with
Disabilities Act compliance. While the use may drive
the need for additional ADA compliance, they will also
want to avoid lease terms that cause them to pay the
costs incurred for ensuring the building meets the
strict compliance required. In most cases, the tenant
will want to negotiate lease language that places this
burden on the landlord.
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Use: The use
of traditional office space is outlined in the lease
and is quite limited when viewed in terms of medical
office space use. Wording which bars hazardous
materials and biomedical wastes must be changed to
prevent lease violations. The traditional boilerplate
lease simply won’t work when dealing with the special
needs of healthcare providers.
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After Hours Access:
Many healthcare facilities may need to see patients
after hours on an emergency basis or may choose to
provide extended service hours. Today, many urgent
care clinics are choosing 24-hour operations to
provide less costly healthcare than provided by
hospital emergency rooms. Not all lease language
permits extended hours of operation. Also, some office
space leases include some or all of the utilities used
by the tenant during normal business hours. If
operating beyond the traditional 8 am to 5 pm service
window, the lease language will need to include an
agreement about exactly which party pays what portion
of the utilities so that special requirements are
taken into account.
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Landlord Access:
In most office space leases, the landlord retains the
right to enter the premises at any time whatsoever in
order to inspect their property or show that property
to realtors or other parties at the landlord’s
discretion. Medical practices of all types all under
special privacy acts which require that patient
identify be protected at all costs. This means that
the landlord or owner simply can’t be allowed
completely, open access during the hours of operation.
Of course, the landlord can expect reasonable
cooperation through appointments or specific hours of
access, but simply opening the door to each room in
the facility at any time would be a clear violation of
patient privacy. This requires extremely sensitive and
clear lease language in order to ensure the interests
of both the landlord or owner and the medical tenant
are sufficiently considered and provided for in the
lease agreement.
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Exclusive Use
Provision: When leasing office space in a
suburban area, it is important that a competing
healthcare facility providing the exact same services
not be allowed to move into the same building or strip
of property as your practice. Ask for a provision in
the lease language which prevents the landlord leasing
another space in the same building to a healthcare
provider operating a competitive practice. This may
require some very creative lease language because you
might well want another healthcare provider that
offers complimentary services to reside near your
practice but you want to avoid direct competition.
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Obtain a Qualified
Broker: When beginning your search for
medical or health services office space, locate a
licensed lease broker with medical office and
facilities experience. These brokers understand the
nuances unique to medical office space leasing or
purchase and the
negotiations required between landlord/owner and
medical tenant such as tenant finish, ADA compliance,
and can negotiate the best possible lease agreement
for your practice.
Find a Qualified Broker
These are only a few of the areas
of leasing medical office space that should be addressed
by healthcare providers. Carefully read all lease language
to ensure a healthcare provider can operate their practice
within the language which is negotiated with the landlord.
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Medical Office Space
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