Cushman & Wakefield announced the hiring of a new executive director of its healthcare capital markets team, expanding its reach in a key sector many investors see as a safe haven from current market instability.

Sushil Puria will work out of the firm’s Nashville office and collaborate with Travis Ives and Gino Lollio on sourcing and executing healthcare capital markets transactions.

Puria has 15 years of experience facilitating the acquisition of medical office buildings across the U.S., most of it spent at Healthcare Realty, the nation’s largest publicly traded medical office REIT, where he became vice president and oversaw $2.26B in transactions.

The Cushman team he’s joining focuses on advising healthcare providers and third-party investors/developers on acquisition, disposition, and debt and equity strategies for healthcare real estate assets, as well as strategic planning.

The healthcare realty and medical office sector saw a significant increase in investment last year, from $16B in 2021 to an estimated $25B in 2022, according to CBRE.