March 26 was a busy day for health system deals, with Tenet completing the sale of four California hospitals and Steward announcing plans to sell its physician group to Optum.
1. Orange, Calif.-based UCI Health completed its $975 acquisition of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare's Pacific Coast Network, which includes four hospitals in Southern California and their associated outpatient locations.
UCI Health President and CEO Chad Lefteris told Becker's the acquisition creates new pathways as it brings together UCI Health, a traditional academic health system, with traditional community hospital systems.
"When we bring those two together, you can come up with something really special," he told Becker's. "This is why this is going to be really fun work, because it gives us the opportunity to go test some new innovative things in a completely different setting than what we've previously had."
He also said the acquisition is going to help UCI Health improve access to care. UCI Health's service area is close to 5 million people.
2. Ascension Michigan's Northern region locations in Saginaw, Tawas and Standish are set to join Midland-based MyMichigan Health pending standard regulatory and other required third-party approvals.
If approved, Ascension St. Mary's of Saginaw, a 268-bed acute care inpatient facility; Ascension St. Mary's Towne Center, an ambulatory surgery center, wound care center, emergency department and short stay unit facility; Ascension St. Joseph in Tawas, a 47-bed acute inpatient facility; and Ascension St. Mary's of Standish, a 25-bed critical access hospital and 29-bed skilled nursing facility, will join MyMichigan Health this summer, according to a joint March 26 news release announcing a definitive agreement. Related care sites and related physician practices of Ascension Medical Group are also included.
3. Dallas-based Steward Health Care plans to sell its physician group to UnitedHealth Group's subsidiary Optum.
The proposed sale of Stewardship Health is part of the 33-hospital system's plan to shore up its finances amid ongoing challenges, including falling behind in paying bills and rents. If approved, physicians who work at Steward facilities across nine states would be employed by Optum, the largest employer of physicians in the U.S.
Collaborative Care Holdings, an Optum subsidiary, filed a notice with Massachusetts' Health Policy Commission to acquire the physician group for an undisclosed amount. The HPC has 30 days to assess the effects of the proposed transaction on healthcare costs, quality, access and equity, but has the ability to conduct a more extensive review
The deal is being met with scrutiny by lawmakers, such as Mass. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who said she is concerned the sale "will not benefit patients or healthcare workers, or guarantee the survival of these facilities."