Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon, Wash., acquired the Skagit Valley Medical Center, an 81-physician medical group, also in Mount Vernon, this week in a $17.4 million deal, according to a report by the Puget Sound Business Journal.
The sale will be completed July 1, and is the latest in a trend of Puget Sound physician groups selling themselves to or partnering with hospitals or larger physician groups. In the last year, five Puget Sound groups have made such moves. Most recently, Rockwood Clinic, a 133-physican group in Spokane, Wash., sold itself to Community Health Systems, a Nashville, Tenn., hospital group that owns two hospitals in Spokane.
According to the report, experts say that more independent physicians are joining hospitals and large physician groups today due to financial pressures, such as increasing administrative overhead and malpractice insurance costs and decreasing Medicare and Medicaid payments. Gregg Davidson, CEO of Skagit Valley Hospital, said in the report that today fewer than 50 percent of physician clinics in the United States are privately owned.
Read the Puget Sound Business Journal report on the acquisition.
Read more Becker’s coverage on hospital acquisitions of independent practices.
Practice Management Companies, Like Hospitals, Increasingly Acquiring Physician Practices
Top Ten Factors to Consider When a Hospital Acquires a Physician Practice
Determining the Value of a Medical Practice
The sale will be completed July 1, and is the latest in a trend of Puget Sound physician groups selling themselves to or partnering with hospitals or larger physician groups. In the last year, five Puget Sound groups have made such moves. Most recently, Rockwood Clinic, a 133-physican group in Spokane, Wash., sold itself to Community Health Systems, a Nashville, Tenn., hospital group that owns two hospitals in Spokane.
According to the report, experts say that more independent physicians are joining hospitals and large physician groups today due to financial pressures, such as increasing administrative overhead and malpractice insurance costs and decreasing Medicare and Medicaid payments. Gregg Davidson, CEO of Skagit Valley Hospital, said in the report that today fewer than 50 percent of physician clinics in the United States are privately owned.
Read the Puget Sound Business Journal report on the acquisition.
Read more Becker’s coverage on hospital acquisitions of independent practices.
Practice Management Companies, Like Hospitals, Increasingly Acquiring Physician Practices
Top Ten Factors to Consider When a Hospital Acquires a Physician Practice
Determining the Value of a Medical Practice