Hospital Deals Dipped in 2016

by | Jan 6, 2017 1:39 am | Hospitals

What the Affordable Care Act gave to the hospital sector, in the form of millions of more insured patients, it slowly took away, in the form of declining inpatient visits and growing competition from freestanding emergency rooms, ambulatory surgery centers and urgent care clinics. The ACA’s beneficial effects were largely played out by the third quarter of 2015, and by 2016, the thrill was gone. Hospital M&A slid slightly in 2016, according to our preliminary year-end data. Eighty-nine hospital deals were announced, down 13% compared with 2015. Spending was far higher than a year ago, reaching nearly $14 billion, a figure 47% higher than 2015’s combined total of $9.5... Read More »

Community Health Systems Starts Divesting Hospitals

by | Nov 23, 2016 4:57 pm | Home Health & Hospice, Hospitals

It’s no secret that Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) has a $15 billion debt load, and that despite its spin-off of Quorum Health Corp. (NYSE: QHC) last April, its financial performance hasn’t improved. During the company’s third-quarter earnings call on November 1, CEO Wayne Smith said the company was in discussions to shed 17 of its 157 hospitals, as well as home health services and non-hospital real estate. The most recent deal following that call was announced on November 17. Community Health’s Spokane, Washington-based Rockwood Health System will become part of Tacoma, Washington-based MultiCare Health System, a not-for-profit system that operates five... Read More »

Community Health Sells 4 Rural Hospitals

by | Sep 30, 2016 6:50 pm | Hospitals

Financially troubled Community Health Systems (NYSE: CYH) announced the sale of four rural hospitals on September 28, as it tries to pare down its $15 billion in debt. And more announcements are in the works. Curae Health, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting rural healthcare services, agreed to take on the four facilities, three of which are in Mississippi and one in Florida.  They are Merit Health Gilmore Memorial (95 beds), Merit Health Batesville (112 beds), Merit Health Northwest Mississippi (181 beds) and Highlands Regional Medical Center (126 beds). In November 2014, Curae Health emerged as the owner of three rural Alabama hospitals being sold by LifePoint... Read More »

Hospital M&A Revs Up in February

by | Feb 3, 2016 8:00 am | Hospitals

Two days into February 2016 and we’ve recorded four hospital transactions. Considering there were only two in all of January, this action is impressive. One was a straight real estate deal from Carter Validus Mission Critical REIT II, Inc., which paid $33.9 million for Sherman, Texas-based Heritage Park Surgical Hospital and Visionary Medical Imaging. Both facilities were built in 2005. The hospital has 57,576 square feet, and was renovated in 2010 to become a full-service surgical hospital. VMI is an 8,055 square foot facility. The deal actually closed in November 2015, but wasn’t announced until now. Larkin Community Hospital, a for-profit, 146-bed hospital in South Miami,... Read More »

LifePoint Takes 2 Hospitals For-Profit

by | Aug 10, 2015 8:51 am | Hospitals

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... Read More »