Florida insurer AvMed has extended by two years its contract to offer the SilverSneakers senior fitness program to its members in two Miami-area counties. AvMed, which has some 31,000 members in Broward and Dade counties, began working with SilverSneakers in 2010.

A number of Miami-area doctors are complaining about the way HCA Holdings officials have ended their employment with the hospital giant. In addition to facing a big pay cut and/or a short time window in which to close down their practices, they say HCA's big physician recruiting push in recent years isn't working as well operationally as had been promised. The company said the doctors' exits are a normal business decision, but a former exec says the doctors' gripes could be a sign of bigger problems.

Curtis, who left HCA in 2010, said that HCA’s physician practices “just grew too fast,” hiring hundreds of doctors a year, and didn’t have the infrastructure to support them at its headquarters in Tennessee. “There were huge delays in getting claims, credentialing, and it just went on and on. It was not a well orchestrated process. Now they’re at a stage where they’re cutting doctors to reduce their losses.”

The company that owns downtown’s Nashville City Center is still considering placing office space atop a structured parking garage it plans to build adjacent to the skyscraper.

At least according to its website.

Parmenter Realty Partners — which has offices in Atlanta, Dallas and Miami and owns some of the South’s most high-profile office towers — is looking to build what likely will be a multi-story parking garage (the firm previously noted a 570-car facility) that could be accessed, depending upon orientation, via Sixth Avenue North and/or Church Street.

The firm’s website notes under a “Value-Added Activities” header the following regarding the office component:

“May also construct build-to-suit above garage to fulfill expanding tenant needs.”

Adriana Cruz, Parmenter director of investor relations and corporate communications, said the company is not ready to offers details regarding the garage. As to an office element, Cruz said this: 

“We have no commitment to building office space at this time.”

Nashville’s central business district offers few structures that combine above-ground parking and office space. A well-recognized example of a “pedestal building” is Viridian (with residential space atop parking).

Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis announced in September it would renew its lease in Nashville City Center for 15 years, presumably giving Parmenter all the more incentive to move forward on the parking garage. However, it is difficult, if not impossible, to foresee Waller having some of its team work within a garage-top office.  

Parmenter bought Nashville City Center in July 2008 for $87.96 million.