The Nashville Health Care Council board of directors has issued a statement urging every person to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and it invited top executives of health care companies nationwide to sign on to the statement.

The statement reads:

“The Nashville Health Care Council board of directors is proud to represent a distinguished group of leading national health care companies. We have direct insight into the tragedy and burden that COVID-19 has brought upon the communities we serve coast-to-coast. We also represent leading clinicians and clinical teams – scientists who have dedicated their lives to treating patients and fighting infectious disease.

“Collectively, we want to affirm that COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and the only solution that will bring us to the other side of this pandemic. We stand behind the many health systems, hospitals, provider groups and countless private businesses across the nation working to vaccinate their employees, patients and communities, and urge every person to get vaccinated as soon as possible.’’

The Council board of directors includes leaders from some of the nation’s largest health care companies serving a global population. Harnessing the expertise and influence of those leaders, the board is working to educate, inspire and advocate for industrywide change on some of health care’s most pressing issues and challenges.

“As executives of industry-leading health care organizations, we believe it is our responsibility to do everything we can to help bring an end to the pandemic,” says David Dill, Council board chairman and president and CEO of LifePoint Health. “The Council board encourages Nashvillians – and all Americans – to do their part and get vaccinated against COVID-19. In addition, we are asking top executives of health care organizations nationwide to join us by signing on to the statement and encouraging vaccination within their companies and throughout the communities they serve.”

GEODIS to hire 4,200 in U.S. for peak season

Global leading transport and logistics provider GEODIS, with offices in Brentwood, plans to hire 4,200 seasonal workers across its U.S. campuses in preparation for peak season.

GEODIS is hiring for seasonal workers to bolster its warehousing and distribution center capabilities through 2021 as online shopping continues to surge to record heights.

eMarketer forecasts that total U.S. peak season e-commerce sales in 2021 will increase 11.3% to $206.88 billion, and that e-commerce will constitute a record 18.9% of total holiday season retail sales. As industry demand continues to grow, GEODIS will hire seasonal employees to join its existing workforce of approximately 15,000 employees across North America.

GEODIS will hire both seasonal material handlers (no experience required) and equipment operators this peak season. GEODIS offers competitive pay with available bonuses, flexible shifts, growth opportunities within the organization and more. With a safe working environment being a top priority, GEODIS adheres to strict COVID-19 health protocols. This includes face mask requirements, temperature checks, social distancing, frequent surface cleaning, and the use of technology for ongoing monitoring and reporting within its warehouses.

Survey: 42% delay health care for financial reasons

A recent survey commissioned by Nashville’s CarePayment and conducted by Porter Research found that 42% of consumers delayed health care and 24% could not afford additional medical expenses without a financing plan due to COVID-19.

According to the survey, delayed care was the No. 1 way the pandemic impacted health care needs, followed by increased telemedicine and mental stress.

Conducted May – June 2021, Porter Research surveyed 2,500 CarePayment members, patients who are currently enrolled in CarePayment’s 0.00% APR patient financing solution, regarding the effects of the pandemic and the cost of health care if they were to pay medical bills in full rather than using the CarePayment program.

The survey also found that consumers were struggling to pay medical bills independent of COVID, with two-thirds having difficulty affording their deductible.

Wilson County lands life science assembly facility

Thermo Fisher Scientific officials have announced life sciences company will establish a new manufacturing facility in Wilson County, that will lead to 1,400 new jobs.

To date, Thermo Fisher, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, has committed more than $100 million to build a new single-use technology assembly facility, where it will produce bioprocess containers and fluid transfer assemblies that are used globally by biopharma companies to develop and produce therapeutics and vaccines.

The project will create about 400 jobs in the near-term, ultimately growing to more than 1,400 new jobs in Lebanon over the next several years. The roles will focus on manufacturing, assembling and packaging bioprocess containers in a clean room environment with additional roles in engineering, procurement, quality, warehousing and site leadership.

Thermo Fisher has annual revenue exceeding $30 billion. The company serves global customers in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, as well as in hospitals and clinical diagnostic labs, universities, research institutions and government agencies.

VisuWell to partner with athenahealth

Franklin-based VisuWell, a provider of enterprise-ready virtual care solutions, has announced a partnership with athenahealth, Inc. through the company’s Marketplace program. As part of the athenahealth Marketplace, this newly integrated application is now available to athenahealth’s growing network of health care providers to expand virtual care access through real-time video, live chat and store-and-forward options, with an advanced feature suite that is scalable for any organization type.

VisuWell serves health care organizations nationwide, supporting over 35 unique virtual care workflows, ranging from scheduled ambulatory visits to emergent care.

Bridgestone’s deal with Azuga is completed

Bridgestone Americas, based in Nashville, has announced it has completed the acquisition of Azuga Holdings, Inc. and the Azuga fleet management platform from Sumeru Equity Partners, Danlaw, Inc. and other shareholders.

The acquisition, valued at $391 million, accelerates Bridgestone’s efforts to develop and deploy a comprehensive fleet management solution as a central pillar of the company’s advanced mobility strategy.

Featuring GPS tracking, video telematics, driver behavior management and accident reduction solutions for insurers, the Azuga platform improves business performance, reduces fuel consumption and decreases wear and tear on vehicles. Azuga currently supports more than 6,000 customers in the U.S. and Canada in the commercial trucking and insurance industries, as well as the public sector.

Montecito buys medical facility in N. Carolina

Montecito Medical, a Nashville-based owner of medical office properties throughout the U.S., has completed the acquisition of a medical office building tenanted by UNC Health in Pittsboro, North Carolina.

The Chatham Park Medical Office Building, which offers 25,610 rentable square feet of space, was built in 2016 and is 100% leased to UNC Health.

UNC Health provides family medicine, rheumatology, therapeutic infusion, cardiology, ENT, gastro, ophthalmology, orthopedics, urology, rehab, imaging and laboratory services at the medical office building.

The Chatham Park property is located between Pittsboro and Chapel Hill, within the second-fastest growing metropolitan statistical area (Raleigh-Durham) in the United States. Between 2010 and 2020, the MSA grew by 23%, and Pittsboro is experiencing some of the most dramatic growth within the area.

Bridge Crossing building in Brentwood is sold

Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, has acquired a fully leased office property in the Nashville area.

The property, Bridge Crossing, is a three-story, Class A office building located in Brentwood that was purchased for $46 million.

The fully leased 199,194-square-foot building recently underwent a multi-million-dollar renovation of the lobby, elevators and common areas. Comdata, which is a part of FLEETCOR Technologies, is an anchor tenant operating with a long-term.

The acquisition was funded through a combination of debt financing and an over-subscribed private placement offering that raised gross proceeds of approximately $65 million.

Franklin’s Thnks unveils ThnkQ Score

Franklin-based Thnks, a digital gratitude platform, has released ThnkQ Score, an innovative new feature enabling users to measure how well companies share gratitude and thoughtfulness in the workplace.

ThnkQ Score is available to all Pro- and Enterprise-level users on the Thnks browser platform, as well as the iOS and Android mobile apps. Just like an IQ or an EQ, a TQ, the skill of building strong relationships through gratitude, is a strong predictor of individual and business success.

An individual’s TQ score is determined by their ability to send personalized, timely and relevant gestures of appreciation to clients and peers, with an emphasis on reciprocity and Thnks that are accepted and redeemed. The TQ score can be reviewed by managers and team members in the TQ leaderboard, gamifying gratitude in a way that increases workplace engagement and collaboration across teams who can view each others success scores.

Gen Cap America adds science companies

Nashville-based Gen Cap America, Inc., a private equity firm focused on lower middle market buyouts, has acquired Lab Products, LLC and Harford Systems, subsidiaries of Avidity Science, a leader in life science research tools.

Lab Products & Harford are the 14th platform acquisition made from Gen Cap’s fund VII.

Lab Products and Harford Systems leadership team remains unchanged in this transaction with John Soper retaining overall responsibility for the company.

Gen Cap America, Inc., provides equity for management buyouts, division spinoffs and recapitalizations of profitable, well-established lower middle market businesses.