A private investment firm with experience in the hospitality, healthcare and senior housing industries is planning to reinvent transitional care by blending cutting edge design with the services and operations of each all under one roof.
Salude, a transitional care provider opening its first facility in Georgia next month, aims to leverage the expertise of senior housing operators to manage its properties, which it intends to roll out nationwide in select markets.
A privately held company, Salude will function as a brand with its own set of operating standards that will exemplify the mission of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), says Ron Silva, president and CEO of Fillmore Capital Partners, the investment management firm that owns Salude.
“We look at this product as an advanced part of what the ACA is trying to get to—building partnerships with providers who are providing care in the lowest cost environment,” Silva says.
To operate its first property, Fillmore Capital Partners has tapped Plano, Texas-based Golden Living, a provider of assisted living, skilled nursing, rehabilitation therapy and hospice services. The company operates 15 assisted living communities located mostly in the center of the country, with one community in Pennsylvania being the farthest east.
The Salude facility in Suwanee, Ga., will be an upscale community focused on delivering clinical care and quality outcomes, says Dr. Alan Wang, CEO of Salude.
The $16.5 million development offers 64 private rooms and bathrooms within a 46,610-square-foot structure. Situated on more than 14.5 acres along Norholt Parkway in Suwanee, Salude’s location offers a serene, private setting that will emphasize the facility’s “Art of Recovery” initiative.
“We’re expecting a higher acuity patient that traditional post-acute care facilities,” says Wang. “With the Art of Recovery, we expect our patients to walk out of the facility and fully recover from injuries in less than a 20-day, maybe 15-day, length of stay.”
Redefining the “Art of Recovery” includes meals provided using locally sourced ingredients by Salude’s professional chef for in-room dining, as well as enabling patients to access on-demand TV and video-conferencing capabilities with an on-staff concierge.
Design features of the facility’s private rooms also facilitate recovery, with giant showers that allow patients with mobility issues to easily enter and exit, sliding doors on the entrances to bathrooms and large windows that allow more natural light.
The location of Salude will play a key role in the company’s strategy to develop partnerships with other healthcare providers, as the facility sits in close proximity to multiple hospitals and health systems.
“Suwanee has a large growing affluent population base, with a lot of growing orthopedic, cardiology and pulmonary practices,” says Wang. “Close proximity to these facilities and managed care groups will be excellent referral sources to Salude.”
The Salude facility is designed to be affordable when compared to higher acuity settings such as hospitals, says Silva.
“One of the biggest issues for healthcare going forward is facilities cost so much money that it drives up the cost of care,” he says.
Whereas a hospital might be $700 per foot to build, Salude is $220, according to Silva’s estimations.
Looking ahead, Fillmore Capital Partners has identified as many as 20 different sites to potentially develop future Salude facilities.
“This facility might not be the answer for rural America, but it is a viable concept for urban, suburban and regional hospital systems that need a recovery unit,” says Silva.
To manage the various Salude facilities, Fillmore Capital Partners plans to team with other senior living companies to handle operations.
“We will build [Salude] for other companies that we have respect for their operating prowess,” Silva says. “We’ll also help them with their business model as well.”
The first Salude facility will celebrate a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Suwanee location July 8 and will welcome its first patients two days later.
Written by Jason Oliva
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