Kansas City-based University of Kansas Health System and Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health Services plan to form a joint venture company to acquire 378-bed St. Francis Health in Topeka, Kan.
St. Francis Health was facing closure after Denver-based SCL Health announced in April it would cease operating the hospital this summer, regardless of whether another owner or operator was found.
Following the news that St. Francis would shutter without a new owner, several organizations expressed interest in acquiring the facility, and SCL Health ultimately chose KU Health and Ardent.
The joint venture company formed by Ardent and KU Health will infuse $50 million into St. Francis in the first year. The company will establish a local board of trustees for the hospital, and Ardent and KU Health will have equal representation on the joint venture board of directors.
KU Health and Ardent will immediately begin working with SCL to finalize the deal, with the goal of completing the transaction within two months of signing the letter of intent.
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