Real estate investment firm The Landes Group completed its acquisition of Bryant, Ark.-based Encore Medical Center and finalized a long-term lease agreement with University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Health, which will operate the hospital.
The Landes Group said in an Aug. 25 news release that the acquisition reflects the firm’s healthcare investment strategy of pairing ownership with financing structures that “allow providers to preserve capital for patient care, expansion and other institutional priorities.”
This arrangement allows Little Rock-based UAMS to bring Encore Medical Center into its system without the upfront investment of a direct purchase, according to the release.
Encore Medical Center is a 53-licensed-bed, 108,055-square-foot hospital that opened in 2021 with a focus on bariatric weight loss surgery and peripheral vascular disease. Landes acquired the hospital from Little Rock-based Arkansas Heart Hospital.
The University of Arkansas board of trustees in June approved UAMS’ plan to lease and operate the facility. UAMS leaders said the move will expand access to care in Saline County, one of Arkansas’ fastest-growing areas. Chancellor C. Lowry Barnes, MD, said in June that the additional beds are critical to the system’s mission of caring for the sickest patients in the state.
UAMS is expected to take full operational control of the hospital Oct. 1.
