The 88-bed Lehigh Regional Medical Center will be sold to a California-based health care company later this year, pending regulatory approval, the hospital’s owners announced this morning.
Franklin, Tennessee-based Community Health Systems (CHS), expects the sale of the Lehigh Acres hospital to Prime Healthcare Services Inc. to close in the fourth quarter of this year. Details of the sale were not immediately available.
The CHS statement reads in full: “Community Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE: CYH) announced today that subsidiaries of the Company have executed a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of the assets of 88-bed Lehigh Regional Medical Center in Lehigh Acres, Florida, along with related outpatient services, to subsidiaries of Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. The divestiture is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2015, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
The Company does not expect the divestiture to have a meaningful impact on financial operations. Following the divestiture of Lehigh Regional Medical Center, Community Health Systems affiliates will continue to operate 25 hospitals in Florida.”
Prime Healthcare, based in Ontario, California, has agreed to hire “substantially all employees” to their existing positions and pay, with recognition of employee seniority, the company said. The company said it plans no changes to current physician privileges.
“Our hospital has a long-standing tradition of providing personalized care and quality healthcare services for patient,” said Lehigh Regional’s interim CEO, Tom Marshall, in a written statement. “All of our caregivers are committed to service for the individuals who come to us for care and our broader community. An affiliation with Prime Healthcare provides opportunities to build on our history of service and success.”
Prime Healthcare of Ontario, California, bill itself as a company that “rescues financially distressed hospitals, turning them into thriving community assets and providing uninterrupted access to care.” It claims that it has never sold or closed a hospital.
Letter from LRMC Click here, Letter from Prime Healthcare Click here