Christus Health will acquire Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center in Alamogordo, N.M., effective July 1.
Gerald Champion Regional is an independent, nonprofit, sole community level III trauma hospital. It employs or contracts with approximately 160 providers and 1,000 staff and conducts more than 30,000 ER visits, 150,000 clinic visits and 4,000 admissions per year.
The New Mexico hospital inked a letter of intent to join Irving, Texas-based Christus Health in early May with the goal to finalize the combination by early summer.
Norm Arnold, chair of the Gerald Champion Board of Trustees, said the hospital began seeking a partner 18 months ago and reached out to 27 organizations before deciding on Christus, a nonprofit, Catholic system with more than 60 hospitals.
"This is a generational event that builds on our previous 74 years of service to ensure that we will be resilient and continue to thrive, providing the very best in clinical care to our community," said Gerald Champion CEO Jim Heckert, who will remain in the role under CHRISTUS ownership.