Exclusive Q&A: Kaiser's Mark Brna Talks Innovation And Healthcare Real Estate
Mark Brna is an executive director at healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente, where he oversees facilities. Bisnow spoke to him about Kaiser's strategy and focus on innovation. Learn more from Mark and other experts at our State of San Francisco Healthcare event tomorrow.
Bisnow: Kaiser is a major—if not the major—healthcare player in the Bay Area. What do you consider when you think about managing your real estate?
Mark Brna: Kaiser Permanente is focused on designing a care experience for our members that uses technology and space to make getting medical care easier, more convenient and focused on choice. From a portfolio management perspective, we maximize the utilization of our existing portfolio. From a capital perspective, this means looking at improving both functional and space efficiency of the building. Our efforts now increasingly focus on sustainability and energy utilization.
Bisnow: What are Kaiser's three biggest objectives for 2016 and how can effective management of real estate resources meet those?
Mark: Kaiser Permanente’s mission is to provide high-quality, affordable healthcare and improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We have a multi-year strategy that supports that mission and positions our organization to (1) quickly respond to membership growth, (2) minimize our environmental footprint to conserve resources and (3) increase the use of technology to better enable access to our physicians and care teams. We've developed teams focused on the changing environment in the healthcare industry and [they're] given latitude to experiment and innovate in developing solutions consistent with that greater mission.
Bisnow: Are there any new innovations in either design or healthcare delivery methods that excite you?
Mark: This is a time of transformative change in the healthcare industry, and Kaiser Permanente is leading that transformation. Just last month, Kaiser Permanente announced new and ambitious environmental goals for the year 2025 that include becoming carbon positive, buying only sustainably produced food and sending zero waste to landfills. We’ve also committed to pursue LEED Gold status for all new major building projects. In addition, our new medical office buildings are designed to enhance the care experience by using technology and space to make getting medical care easier, more convenient and focused on choice. This includes incorporating virtual visit technology that allows for quick telemedicine referrals to specialists and creating a more personal, retail-like experience for services, such as pharmacy and Vision Essentials.
Hear Mark and our other healthcare real estate experts at Bisnow's State of San Francisco Healthcare event tomorrow. Sign up here.
