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With Theodoric Meyer and Daniel Lippman
AMONG CHRIS CHRISTIE’S CONSULTING CLIENTS JUUL LABS: Former New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie’s firm,
Christie 55 Solutions, brought in more than $1 million last year lobbying for clients such as the pharmaceutical company
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to the Q4 2020 Medical Properties Trust Earning Inc. Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]
I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Charles Lambert, Vice President. Please go ahead, sir.
Charles R. Lambert
Vice President, Treasurer and Managing Director of Capital Markets
Good morning. Welcome to the Medical Properties Trust conference call to discuss our fourth quarter and calendar year 2020 financial results. With me today are Edward K. Aldag, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the company and Steven Hamner, the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
If you ever need to know why someone would argue against the “free market” concept when it comes to hospitals, medical centers or clinics, look no further than the building on the corner of San Vicente and Olympic boulevards in Los Angeles. For more than half a century, locals knew it simply as Midway Hospital. More recently, it was Olympia Medical Center.
Soon, you can call it closed in the middle of a pandemic.
On Dec. 31, Olympia’s corporate owner, Irvine-based Alecto Healthcare, announced that it would shutter the 72-year-old hospital on March 31. Alecto’s statement indicated the move was being made “to allow for substantial renovations” in order to “better serve the healthcare needs of the community.” In truth, Alecto, a for-profit company, had already reached a deal to sell off the property to UCLA Health. The university confirmed the sale but was vague about what it’ll do with the building or the surrounding grounds.