Memorial Health in Savannah, Ga., has approved a strategic partnership agreement with Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health, according to a Savannah Morning News report.
Here are five things to know about the partnership.
1. The partnership with Novant would provide a capital commitment of $295 million during the first 10 years of the agreement, according to the report. Proposed capital projects include building the new Dwayne & Cynthia Willett Children's Hospital of Savannah, major ambulatory expansion into Pooler, Ga., and expansion of Memorial's heart and vascular services, the report notes.
2. Under the partnership, Novant would guarantee Chatham County's 2012 agreement to provide financial support for the Chatham County (Ga.) Hospital Authority's $164 million bond issue, according to the Savannah Morning News. The authority owns the land where Memorial Medical Center sits and leases it for $1 a year.
3. The Chatham County Hospital Authority must still approve lease revisions before the partnership can come to fruition, according to the report.
4. Board Chairman Harry Haslam Jr. has said Memorial needs a "capital partner," adding that without the Novant deal, "(Memorial) will have to rely on the county subsidizing it with property taxes or shrink down to an inner-city, restricted services hospital," the Savannah Morning News reports.
5. The two health systems began partnership talks in September.
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