MINNEAPOLIS—In what has become an “increasingly difficult” process of winnowing down qualified contenders, Healthcare Real Estate Insights magazine on Wednesday presented a slate of 40 finalists for its 2017 HREI Insights Awards, the first and only national awards dedicated to recognizing excellence in healthcare real estate development and executive leadership. The winners in eight categories, plus a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, will be honored in a luncheon ceremony at the RealShare Healthcare Real Estate conference slated for Dec. 7 in Scottsdale, AZ.

“It's difficult to believe it has been almost 15 years since we launched HREI and five years since we launched this awards program,” says Murray W. Wolf, publisher and founding editor of HREI. He adds that the healthcare real estate sector “has grown tremendously in prominence during that time, so we felt it was only fitting that there should be a comprehensive national awards program recognizing excellence in HRE development and executive leadership.”

Adds John B. Mugford, editor of HREI, “The number and quality of the nominations grows each year, and there is a fascinating and impressive real estate story behind every nomination. It has become increasingly difficult to select finalists, as we need to choose just a handful of nominees from among so many worthy entries.”