Three for-profit hospitals owned by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems and King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services could soon be changing hands.
UHS announced June 5 that it signed an agreement with San Angelo, Texas-based Shannon Medical Center to acquire River Crest Hospital. The deal involving the 80-bed behavioral health facility is expected to be finalized in September.
Phuong Cardoza, UHS' group director for behavioral health, said the for-profit system has been impressed by the conversations it had with Shannon about the current and future needs of behavioral health in the San Angelo community.
Shannon said it is committed to enhancing care coordination and maintaining and enhancing local services. It is also committed to expanding behavioral health services in the Concho Valley through facility upgrades, services, technology and equipment as well as additional behavioral health employees and providers. Phase one will add 20 beds to River Crest campus; phase two will add 20 more beds to the facility.
CHS' $320 million deal to sell two North Carolina hospitals to Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health cleared a hurdle after a federal judge on June 5 rejected the Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to halt the deal.
In a June 5 news release shared with Becker's, Novant Health president and CEO Carl Armato called the court's ruling a "victory for the area."
"We have always believed these communities deserve access to a rich healthcare ecosystem with robust and comprehensive care services from family physicians to pediatrics and specialty care," Mr. Armato said.
Novant said in the release that it is committed to making significant investments to improve the safety and quality of services provided. It also said it will bring "leading-edge technology and innovation" to enhance patient care, partner with physicians and other healthcare workers to preserve access to care and promote upward mobility and equitable access to care.
The deal between Novant and CHS was announced in March 2023 and still faces an administrative challenge before the FTC.