All sectors of commercial real estate have been affected by COVID-19 and the resulting shutdown of the US economy. Healthcare is no exception and, indeed, the news has been highlighted with stories of overwhelmed hospitals in urban areas, and conversely, medical facilities experiencing a drastically lower volume of patients.

According to a national survey, conducted by Leede Research, more than 1,250 adults were asked how they're accessing healthcare in light of the pandemic. Respondents cited only 31% feel "comfortable" visiting their doctor's office for elective procedures or minor emergencies, in fear of contracting COVID-19. All of this has led to significant changes in attitudes and behavior toward standard health care services.

Another agent for change that was exacerbated by the pandemic is telehealth. The world has been connected virtually out of necessity during our global quarantine. Virtual care options have now become commonplace when previously they were the rare exception. According to the Leede Research survey, there has been triple the amount of "virtual care" appointments over the past 3 months. We discussed this trend with Dilan Luvis, Manager at KPMG Advisory, Health & Life Sciences. Dilan emphasized that "with low utilization and patient census, providers are shifting to telemedicine and alternative work settings to continue to drive patient volume and operations, but they are also rethinking their enterprise strategy on how to optimize their space, restructure debt, and reduce risk to prepare for the changing healthcare environment."