development : Innovation + Job News

Baltimore-based Bravo Health  announced Monday that the first Bravo Health Advanced Care Center  will open in Philadelphia in January 2010. The Center, an innovative, state-of-the-art outpatient physician practice designed to meet the health care needs of Bravo Health members, will be located in a new building being constructed at 1010 W. Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia.

Founded in 1996, Bravo Health provides Medicare beneficiaries access to high quality, cost-effective health care. With more than 300,000 members, Bravo Health offers Medicare Advantage health plans in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, D.C. Additionally, the company offers Part D Prescription Drug Plans in 43 states.

An extension of the member's primary care provider (PCP), the Center is intended to complement the PCP's care in two ways. First, it will offer immediate care for patient's experiencing a non-emergent health condition when the PCP does not have an available appointment or it is after hours. It will also provide care and physician-directed case managment for patients with complex conditions requiring significant time commitments that the patients' PCPs can't meet.

"This new innovative model of care signifies Bravo Health's deep commitment to its members in the Philadelphia area," says Andrew Aronson, MD, Vice President of Physician Practice Operations for the Center. "Our goal in establishing the Center is consistent with the health care agenda across the country: to achieve better quality and value for patients through the appropriate and efficient delivery of care."

The Center will be staffed by board certified or board eligible physicians who will work hand-in-hand with the member's PCP to assure immediate and complex health needs are met in the most effective way. Bravo Health Pennsylvania serves more than 40,000 members in the Philadelphia area.

"The Bravo Health Advanced Care Center will change the way health care is delivered," said Jason Feuerman, Senior Vice President and Executive Director, Bravo Health Pennsylvania. "By assisting PCPs in closing some of the gaps to health care access, the Center is part of a well-planned continuum of health care delivery. The Center is a proactive, forward-thinking and responsive solution to our members' need for accessible, efficient health care."

There will be no co-pay, in accordance with the Bravo Health member's benefit plan, and no appointment will be necessary for immediate care services. Transportation arrangements will be available.

The company plans to open additional Centers in Bravo Health's markets. Plans are underway for another Center in West Philadelphia, as well as one in Baltimore, Maryland.

Source: Bravo Health
Writer: Walaika Haskins

If you know Chinese, you might soon have a reason to use it for more than ordering food at your local Chinese restaurant. Huarui Century Group, a Chinese real estate firm has chosen Baltimore County as the location for its North American headquarters. Based in Shenyang, China, the company provides site location and related services to the ever increasing number of Chinese firms flocking to establish a base of operations in the U.S.

Writer: Walaika Haskins

Source: Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development

Federal employees at the Social Security Administration's (SSA) Metro West complex are getting new digs. The SSA plans to move its 1600 employees from its current location at 300 N. Greene Street in West Baltimore to a new office building in Northwest Baltimore near the Reisterstown Plaza Metro station.

The 538,000 square-foot office building and 1,076 square-foot garage will be built on an 11.3-acre parcel of land at 6100 Wabash Avenue that will be leased to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The GSA is currently seeking a developer to complete the building by 2012.

The move from the technologically obsolete West Baltimore offices is not a part of any stimulus project, according to Rochelle Spector, City Councilwoman of the 5^th District where the new offices will be built. However, it will have the same impact as stimulus money would act as an economic generator for the next four decades.

"This is a major anchor for Baltimore City. It will promote further development for that area, including more residential, office and retail spaces. This has already benefited our area. For the first time in the Park Heights area in almost 40 years we have one-family homes being built so that people can live, work and play here. That's a real plus. This is not stimulus but it accomplishes exactly what we need to do to get people to live and work in Baltimore city," she says.

The planned office complex is the first stage of a larger development centered on the metro station at Reisterstown Plaza. It will include housing, retail space and offices. It is part of an initiative by the state of Maryland to create transit-centered mixed-use developments. The Reisterstown location could become a model for similar developments.

The SSA project that could cost upwards of $60 million will bring new jobs first in construction and later in retail and other sectors to the area.

Writer: Walaika Haskins
Source: Rochelle Spector, 5th District City Councilwoman