200+ Healthcare Leaders told Inside Baseball this week…

More than 200+ healthcare leaders responded to Inside Baseball’s flash survey of the industry we conducted this week. Here’s what you told us:

• When asked to describe the current health of the Nashville healthcare community, a whopping 64% say there’s a steady drum beat of new ideas, capital and strong business plans driving Nashville’s healthcare community – but it ain’t what it used to be… at least not yet.
• Nonetheless, 2012 is predicted to spur more industry consolidations (say 38.6%) and healthcare start-ups (say 39.1%).
• Barack Obama is predicted to be the next president of the United States (say 45.7% against a divided Republican field)
• And Eli Manning and the New York Giants will bring home the bling this Sunday (say 52.5%) against some other team from the North.

There’s lots more in the full survey.

Deals In Play

With changing dynamics underway in healthcare finance, more mergers and acquisitions are expected for hospitals in 2012, and likely some expiring non-competes, Shattuck Hammond co-founder Michael Hammond has launched a new healthcare investment banking and strategic advisory firm – Hammond Hanlon Camp LLC with some of his former comrades from Shattuck. Best known for its hospital M&A work, Shattuck was purchased by Morgan Keegan in 2007. The new firm, called H2C, is named after Hammond, Bill Hanlon and PJ Camp. It also has a handful of other former Shattuck execs on board and focuses exclusively on non-profit healthcare organizations.

Locally, Morgan Keegan also lost healthcare investment banker Duncan Dashiff. Formerly with SunTrust Robinson Humphreys and Raymond James, Dashiff smartly jumped on board with Harry Jacobson’s aptly named Healthcare Investment Group, which includes Epiphany Health Ventures, MedCare Investment Funds and TriStar Technology Ventures. Between the three firms and the various companies and investments, there’s a possibility that they might have more money than the U.S. Treasury . Well, ok, more like $1 billion (yes, that’s with a ‘B’) under management.

In yet another signal that hospital M&A work is on the rise, long-time healthcare execGary Bell has landed at Atlanta-based Coker Group as a SVP. Bell, who brings 40+ years of experience, is doing transaction and strategic advisory work for hospitals and other healthcare type organizations. Bell has worked in development roles for a handful of for-profit hospital companies like MedCath Corp.  and Health Management Associates. Bell also has entrepreneur under his belt. He briefly entertained a hospital startup named MG Hospital Partners prior to joining Coker Group. Like so many of his Nashville healthcare colleagues, it appears that retirement bores the you know what out of Bell. Glad to see you back in the game, Gary.

On the hunt for an angel investor? Well, there’s a new one in town. After selling off its Middle Tennessee hospitals last year, the group of well-heeled, yet very private investors behind physician-syndication hospital company Cannon County Hospitals LLC has launched a fund named Weatherly Growth that specializes in angel investments ranging from $150,000 – $250,000 a pop. Led by Mark Gorman, Weatherly Growth has a focus on early stage healthcare investments and believes in a value-added philosophy. The company wants to help entrepreneurs truly grow their business by working with them hands on, opening doors and building relationships. We suspect they’ll be busy.

The ever-competitive law firm scene grew even sportier last month with Bass Berry & Sims’ addition of former U.S. Department of Justice attorney John Kelly and the opening of a Washington D.C. office. Nashville’s army of healthcare lawyers is all chatty about it, given that Bass is now the largest healthcare firm in Nashville… and that’s saying a lot.

Word has it that Memphis-based investment banking firm Duncan Williams is mulling the opening of a Nashville office. (And why wouldn’t they?!) The firm was involved in a recent capital raise for a Nashville healthcare REIT named GMedCap (short for Global Medical Realty Capital).

GMedCap is headed up by David Young, an HCA-Alum with an impressive amount of experience in healthcare real estate with companies like Healthcare REIT, Windrose REIT (formerly a Nashville company) and Healthcare Property Investors. GMedCap, meanwhile is focused on developing and owning healthcare facilities with “market dominant” providers with a vital and sustained demand for services. How’s that for weeding out?