Prem Reddy, MD, chairman, president and CEO of Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services, is standing behind his decision to back out of a deal to acquire Los Altos, Calif.-based Daughters of Charity Health System's hospitals, according to a Los Angeles Times report.
Dr. Reddy said critics who think he abandoned the deal because he placed profits over patients are wrong. "It has nothing to do with profits," he said in a statement, according to the report.
In February, California Attorney General Kamala Harris approved Prime's takeover of DCHS' six hospitals with strict conditions.
After considering the conditions, Prime decided not to pursue the transaction. Dr. Reddy said the stern conditions on the deal were "so burdensome and restrictive that it would be impossible for Prime Healthcare — or any buyer — to make the changes needed to operate and save these hospitals," according to a CBS Los Angeles report.
Attorney General Harris said Prime walking away from the deal showed "that continuity of vital healthcare services in these communities is not its priority," according to the Los Angeles Times.
However, Dr. Reddy said the deal came down to delivering quality care that is sustainable, and that wasn't possible under the conditions imposed on the transaction, according to the report.
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