GlobeSt.com: What are some trends impacting healthcare properties in the UK right now?

Hyman: There is a move away from the provision ofcare in a secondary-care setting, which in the UK means inhospitals, into more of a primary-care arena. It is a topic thatthe government is keen to foster, principally because it's cheaper,it's better for patients to be treated closer to where they live.And medical technology and the Internet make diagnostics much moredeliverable in a locality-based setting than they were 10 yearsago.

Also, because of this movement to primary-care activity, theaverage size is getting much longer. We exchanged contracts for aproject in Wales for about $33 million, and that's the largest onewe've bought. Ten or 12 years ago, we were buying centers with anaverage cost of $2 million. Our average for 2008 is going to bearound $10 million. The size is greatly increasing. We're not aboutbuying the smaller properties, like converted houses, shops andoffices. We have about 11,000 medical centers across the UK, 35,000physicians and a very large number of those are in single anddouble-handed practices. There is going to be a reduction in thenumber of physical practices and an increase in the size of theremaining properties.