The sale of Naples, Fla.-based Health Management Associates Inc. by River Region Medical Center’s parent company appeared to keep smooth sailing this week after the federal government OK’d the deal last week pending certain conditions.
A $7.6 billion deal to sell the chain to Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems Inc. includes assumption of debt, according to figures calculated by the Federal Trade Commission. It’s contingent on the Tennessee chain selling Riverview Regional Medical Center near Gadsden, Ala., and Carolina Pines Regional Medical Center near Hartsville, S.C.
Earlier this month, shareholders at HMA voted in favor of the merger, first offered in June.
Community Health Systems will take over Health Management Associates for $13.78 per share. CHS will be the nation’s second-largest hospital network, with 206 hospitals in 29 states, mainly in small markets. HCA Holdings Inc., which focuses on larger markets, is the nation’s largest, with 162 hospitals and 112 freestanding surgery centers.
Up to now, HMA had operated 71 facilities, primarily in the Southeast, including 10 in Mississippi. Five HMA hospitals operate in and around Jackson, including Central Mississippi Medical Center in west Jackson, the closest of the five to Vicksburg.
Locally, the deal completes for CHS the acquisition of CMMC and Medical Associates of Vicksburg on South Frontage Road, which is affiliated with CMMC. The multispecialty clinic opened in 2008.
Consolidation has continued in the U.S. hospital care industry in order to adapt to changes brought by President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. In October, the third-largest hospital network in the country, Tenet Healthcare Corp., acquired Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanguard Health Systems for $1.7 billion.