Spotlight On: Brannen Edge, President & Chief Executive Officer, Flagship Healthcare Properties

Spotlight On: Brannen Edge, President & Chief Executive Officer, Flagship Healthcare Properties

2023-01-18T10:42:09-05:00January 18th, 2023|Charlotte, Commercial Real Estate, Healthcare, Spotlight On|

2 min read January 2023 Brannen Edge, president & CEO of Flagship Healthcare Properties, spoke with Invest: about his role in the niche field of outpatient healthcare real estate and its impact on healthcare. He also shared his views on growth in Charlotte, company culture and the future of healthcare as an industry.

What were Flagship’s major accomplishments in 2022?

The past year was a busy one for Flagship. We closed on four acquisitions in December, which brought us up to approximately $180 million of real estate purchases in 2022. While 2021 was a record year for us, 2022 was just as successful. We matched the volume year over year, but the difference is that we bought 21 properties in 2022 versus 17 in 2021. We continue to build our portfolio, even after the Federal Reserve started ramping up interest rates. I’m proud of the fact that we are well capitalized and can continue raising and deploying capital. We crossed the 100-employee threshold in 2022, meaning we grew headcount by about 10% over the last year. Our hiring has not been just Charlotte-based, which is where we are headquartered; we also opened offices in Tampa and Nashville and expanded in Atlanta. 

How important is being based in Charlotte to Flagship’s success?

We are lucky to be in Charlotte. Charlotte continues to see such an influx of people and talent. I feel like some of the success that we are having is based on where we are focused strategically on growth and expansion — Charlotte certainly serves as a gateway into other markets. Flagship is focused on the southeast and southern mid-Atlantic. We are choosing specific markets based not only on population growth, but population growth for people aged 65 and older. Those states are not only attracting new workers but also seniors who are choosing to relocate to enjoy a lower cost of living, better weather, great healthcare, and proximity to other family members. 

What role does Flagship play in healthcare and how do you meet those needs?

Our mission is to provide extraordinary stewardship and outcomes for all we gratefully serve in the healthcare real estate industry. We work with a lot of different groups in the healthcare real estate space. We work with frontline healthcare workers, whether they are with a large healthcare system, or they are an independent provider. We want to support those workers by giving them a safe, clean space for their patients. We also want to ensure we provide a great environment for employees to work. The only way we succeed is if we deliver attractive, risk-adjusted returns to our investors who are putting their capital at risk. Our tenants, employees, and our investors are our priority. Beyond that, we strive to be a good corporate citizen in Charlotte and in all the markets in which we operate. 

What is your strategy for attracting and retaining employees?

I think the pandemic changed how employees want to work with more remote work and the need for flexibility top of mind. Flagship continues to evolve in this area. In Charlotte, where we probably employ about three quarters of our company, on any given day we may have half to two-thirds of our workforce working remotely. We have had to accommodate our employees, while preserving the culture and the benefits of teamwork and collaboration. We have created an environment where everybody is working together across departments. As a vertically integrated firm, we have property managers, maintenance technicians, project and construction managers, acquisition and investment team members, leasing brokers, accountants, and marketing teammates. We get better results by working together and so it is imperative to provide an environment where our teams can collaborate.

What separates Flagship from other real estate companies?

We are perhaps unique amongst at least some real estate companies in that we are singularly focused on the clinical outpatient healthcare sector. Some companies want to grow by expanding into different sectors or property types. Flagship continues to grow by its expertise and experience in a relatively narrow but deep part of the real estate spectrum. We want to make sure that we have the best representation in healthcare real estate. We must attract, retain, and provide opportunities for our employees to continue to learn and grow and be fulfilled in their work. As we expand into additional markets in the southeast, the importance of attracting and retaining top-quality employees is going to be critically important.

How do you expect healthcare real estate to change in the future?

It is going to be a continuation of the trends we have been witnessing over the past decade. Hospitals and patients share a common goal: how can the time spent in acute care hospitals be minimized? Care has been moving away from hospital campuses where convenience and proximity to where people live and work has become necessary. That shift will continue. As different neighborhoods grow, you will see outpatient healthcare, medical office buildings, and ambulatory surgery centers continue to spring up in suburban areas. That care is more convenient for patients, and it is more cost effective. In many cases, patients will get better care, because they are not coming into an acute care system where the risk of hospital acquired infections is potentially higher than in an outpatient setting. 

How do you anticipate Charlotte’s role in the medical world evolving?

The Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium’s new innovation district known as The Pearl is going to be a game changer for Charlotte. I still do not think the full impact has really been acknowledged. It will be an incubator for new physicians of which we have a significant need, and it is also going to generate new medical and healthcare-related businesses. There have already been some announcements about relocations of corporate headquarters coming into Charlotte and there are more to come. I think The Pearl is going to be a huge driver for the Charlotte area, for the local and regional economy, and for the community.  

For more information, visit: 

https://flagshiphp.com/

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