Lillibridge helps usher in new era at Hillcrest

CHICAGO and WACO, Texas, Mar-17, 2010 - The latest chapter in a 90-year history of quality healthcare delivery in central Texas has been written: the opening of a second medical office building (MOB) on the new 50-acre Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center (HBMC) replacement campus in Waco.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held recently for Office Building II, the second of two MOBs developed on the new HBMC campus by Chicago-based Lillibridge, one of the nation's largest healthcare real estate firms.

Nestled near the new Women's & Children's Center, the freestanding, three-story, 59,000 square foot Office Building II houses complimentary physician practices and services including OB/GYN and pediatrics offices.

Lillibridge also developed Office Building I, which opened late last year on the HBMC campus. That three-story, 107,000 square foot MOB is linked to the main hospital via a second-story skybridge, and includes imaging, endoscopy and rehabilitation centers, as well as other services.

Both buildings were developed by Lillibridge in collaboration with Seavest Inc., the White Plains, N.Y.-based healthcare real estate investment firm that owns the properties. Lillibridge remains responsible for property management and leasing.

"These MOBs put the finishing touches on the impressive new HBMC campus," Lillibridge Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Todd W. Lillibridge says. "Delivering the best available healthcare to Waco and the surrounding area is vital to the community, and we are proud that we were able to assist Hillcrest in achieving that goal. Working with Seavest, we were also able to structure off-balance sheet financing for these projects, allowing our client to preserve capital for other uses."

The new medical offices also strengthen hospital-physician alignment by increasing patient access to care and facilitating referrals while providing efficient, cost-effective space in which to practice medicine, Mr. Lillibridge adds.

Since 1920, Hillcrest had served the healthcare needs of central Texas residents from a site on Herring Avenue in Waco - which, as the highest point in McLellan County, was also the source of the Hillcrest name. But with a need to expand and modernize services, hospital administrators determined several years ago that the most cost-effective solution would be to build a replacement campus about two miles away.

The new 236-bed acute care facility opened in April 2009 at 100 Hillcrest Medical Blvd., near the intersection of Interstate 35 and Loop 340. Construction of the replacement hospital was financed with the help of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Section 242 Hospital Mortgage Insurance program, which enhances access to capital for qualified providers.

HBMC now provides the bulk of Hillcrest healthcare operations, including emergency, labor and delivery, and medical/surgical services. The venerable Herring Avenue facility is still being used for acute inpatient rehabilitation services and outpatient radiation treatment, and houses a new skilled nursing facility.

HBMC is jointly operated by Scott & White Healthcare and Hillcrest Health System.

About Hillcrest Health System

Hillcrest Health System includes Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center (HBMC), a fully-accredited, 236-bed acute care facility in Waco, including a Level II Trauma Center, and Hillcrest Family Health Center, a network of a dozen primary and specialty care clinics throughout the Waco area. HBMC is home to Waco's only Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and is designated by the state of Texas as the area's only Level II Trauma Center. Hillcrest is also the official healthcare provider for Baylor University Athletics. For more information on Hillcrest Health System, please visit www.hillcrest.net.