Glendale Adventist Medical Center built a $17 million, state-of-the-art medical unit, and NBC4 has a redesigned set, a giant interactive tablet and a helicopter. The big question: Will these companies see a positive return on their investment? That’s always the million dollar question. And since so many companies today are holding onto their cash, rather than watching it go out the door without a surefire promise there will be a benefit of equal proportion, it’s almost a shock to see how much these two are investing. I’ll admit I’m a little jealous. I also question whether these two projects are going to pay for themselves. Take Glendale Adventist: Their new West Tower brings online a brand new cardiac intensive care unit, a neuro-intensive care unit and a 20-bed orthopedics unit over three floors. This investment will undoubtedly benefit the Valley community. But our story on Page 4, notes the units are single-occupancy rooms, each with a dedicated bathroom. And all the ICU rooms have a pull-out bed so family members can sleep over. Plus, there is an Internet-connected computer terminal that patients and their families can use. Some of the cardiac ICU rooms, I’m told, are huge — large enough to park a couple of cars inside — and they have gorgeous views of the Valley. That space, those views…they come at a premium. I ask, are all the frills really necessary? The West Tower, the final phase of a $220 million project, is opening at a time when federal health care spending has hit the slowest rate of growth in 51 years. That affects admission rates at hospitals, which are down nationwide. So if those fancy suites are empty, they’re draining the hospital. Warren Tetz, chief operating officer of Glendale Adventist, says the hospital’s admissions are up significantly and projections show “we’ll probably need another building within the next ten years.” Let’s hope that patient volumes don’t veer off too much, or else Glendale Adventist may see itself in a similar position as North Hollywood-based IPC-The Hospitalist Company Inc. — wondering what happened to the stellar growth trend (Page 1). Burbank television station NBC4 is investing millions in its news operations at a time when other media companies are running super lean and are looking to cut costs even more. They’ve hired reporters, invested in technology and are pumping up their investigative coverage. Kudos to NBCUniversal and parent Comcast. But are they ignoring the score on network TV ad spend? According to a Dec. 19 report by Kantar Media, a New York-based company that monitors advertising spending, year-to-date advertising spending in the network TV category is down 5.7 percent. The sector saw its first quarterly gain of 2011 in the third quarter, with expenditures up less than one-half percent. Cable giant Comcast may have a different view of local news, since the cable TV market has been faring well compared to network TV. But an investment is an investment. Even with deep pockets, the stakes are high for NBC4. History has shown that media companies are constantly trying out new content strategies only to have a knee-jerk reaction when the financial results don’t come immediately. We’ll be watching to see what happens at NBC4.
Business Investment With Results Key to Better Community
