SEBASTIAN — Sebastian River Medical Center, along with 22 other Florida hospitals, is being purchased by Community Health Systems, Inc.
Community Health, headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., is acquiring 71 hospitals owned by Health Management Associates, Inc. – most in the southern U.S. – for $3.9 billion in stock and cash.
The controversial deal, which is expected to go through in early 2014, will put CHS in control of 206 hospitals in 29 states.
Sebastian River Medical Center’s Public Affairs Director Angela Dickens said Health Management headquarters in Naples asked her not to comment on the merger and what it would mean to the north county hospital.
A spokesman for Health Management Associates would not comment either.
On its website, CHS says that community hospitals – like Sebastian River– “often suffer from a lack of capital and have difficulty recruiting physicians and retaining high levels of management expertise.”
What CHS hopes to do is provide the resources needed to alleviate these “challenges,” says the website.
Wayne Smith, CEO of Community Health Systems, called the merger with Health Management a “strategic opportunity” which will “advance the commitment shared across both organizations to pursue clinical excellence and to deliver quality care for patients.”
But the purchase-merger, which was unanimously approved by the boards of both Health Management and Community Health, was questioned by Glenview Capital Management LLC, which owns about 15 percent of Health Management Associates.
In a statement, Glenview said HMA should replace its board rather than sell to Community Health Systems.
If 70 percent of Health Management’s shareholders approve the sale, the deal will go through. Those shareholders will then own about 16 percent of Community Health Systems stock.
