In August 2015, Wyoming, Mich.-based Metro Health announced it would not close on the planned affiliation with Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. In retrospect, Metro Health President and CEO Mike Faas said he's thankful the deal fell through, according to MIBiz.com.
The current goings-on at CHS are no secret. After CHS saw its earnings significantly drop in the second quarter of 2016, the for-profit hospital operator is currently exploring various options, including the possible sale of its businesses.
"Thank God we weren't part of them when all this happened," Mr. Faas said. "We'd either be sold again, or I don't know what we'd be."
If the deal had gone through, CHS would have owned 80 percent of Metro Health. Mr. Faas attributes the deal's failure to last minute changes on CHS' part.
"It was all about relationships we saw that were going to be forced to be changed, with either our patients, our employees, our physicians or others," he said, according to the report. "It got to a level that we thought, 'No. This doesn't seem to fit West Michigan.'"
Instead, Metro Health pursued an affiliation with Ann Arbor, Mich.-based U-M Health System. The systems signed a letter of intent in June.
"Even a partner that can bring a brand and wealth, or capital, may not be the best partner," said Mr. Faas. "You have to look for a partner that culturally understands who you are and from a mission and vision [perspective] is tightly aligned with who you already are."