LifePoint Health, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPNT) last week announced two deals for smaller community hospitals that turned the not-for-profit entities into local tax payers. One was Fleming County Hospital (52 beds) in Flemingsburg, Kentucky. The other was an acquisition conducted via a joint venture with Norton Healthcare, called Regional Health Network of Kentucky and Southern Indiana. The JV acquired 241-bed Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, Indiana, with a capital commitment of at least $80 million over the next five years. The local county councils are thrilled to move these not-for-profits into the tax base, no doubt. Meanwhile, the mood in other parts of the country is to sue the local health system to get same result, essentially. In July, a New Jersey Tax Court judge declared that Morristown Medical Center operates essentially as a for-profit business, after the city of Morristown denied the hospital’s claims for property-tax exemptions dating back several years. The fight’s not over, but the NFP column is getting shorter, for sure.
Schedule a demo
Gain access to the best healthcare and long-term care investment intelligence, data, and analysis.
