Carroll Hospital Center in Westminster, Md., is "aggressively" pursuing hospital partnerships, according to a Baltimore Sun report.
John Sernulka, CEO of the 193-bed hospital, told The Sun that reimbursement changes, such as reduced Medicare payments, are forcing smaller and mid-sized community hospitals to change their long-term strategies. "There will be less and less dollars pumped into the healthcare system," he said.
Officials did not disclose if there were any interested health systems yet, and all types of transactions — including a merger or acquisition — are on the table. Once Carroll Hospital selects a partner, due diligence will likely take at least six months to complete, according to the report.
In a May 2012 interview with Becker's Hospital Review, Mr. Sernulka said the regulated reimbursement environment in Maryland has been difficult to work with, and the hospital was reaching a point "where it will be difficult to remain a standalone, independent hospital."
"I do think there is going be the opportunity for a number of hospitals to stay independent. For example, sole community hospitals in a rural county where you don't have a lot of hospitals trying to compete for patients in that market — there may be enough volume there to support the costs of running a hospital," Mr. Sernulka said. "In our case, we're in a suburban/rural community, but we are also a bedroom community for Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, so many of the more urban, larger health systems are placing outposts in our market to take patients out of our community and into their systems to generate more revenue. For organizations like Carroll Hospital Center, each passing year gets more difficult on those independent issues."
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