Huntsville Hospital and Capella Healthcare Announce Agreement for Huntsville to Purchase Hartselle Medical Center Assets
February 1, 2012Huntsville, Ala. – Huntsville Hospital and Capella Healthcare of Franklin, Tennessee, jointly announced today that they have tentatively agreed for Huntsville Hospital to purchase the assets of Hartselle Medical Center (HMC). Expectations are that the agreement will be finalized in the next 45 days. HMC ceased operations on Tuesday, January 31.
“We are pleased to be able to confirm our ongoing discussions with Huntsville Hospital,” said Mark Medley, President of the Hospital Division of Capella Healthcare, owner of the facility since January of 2008. “While we have not been able to identify a new owner willing to provide inpatient services, we are pleased to find a potential partner in Huntsville Hospital who is willing to evaluate providing some level of health care services in the community.”
In announcing the closing of the hospital earlier this year, Medley cited challenges of healthcare reform, a weak economy, the tough reimbursement climate and too few patients for too many hospital beds. Morgan County has 300 too many hospital beds for the population, according to the state’s health planning agency, and a majority of patients were choosing to receive care outside the Hartselle community.
Huntsville Hospital CEO David Spillers said, “Unfortunately, while you can’t make the hospital work as an inpatient facility, there may be an opportunity for us to provide some services on an outpatient basis. Certainly, we will look at trying to keep the physicians in the community by providing access to the services needed for their practices, such as lab and imaging services, if at all possible.”
In the meantime, Spillers said that his team needs to assess what services and technology the community can support, giving no indication of exact services which might be considered. “We would definitely want the community to be supportive of any plans we might develop, but whatever is proposed would have to make financial sense.”
Letters were mailed last week to the 400+ members of HMC’s Senior Connections program, announcing an agreement with Parkway Medical Center, which was purchased by Huntsville Hospital in December. Under the agreement, Senior Connections memberships are being transferred to PMC’s senior program MatureLife, which offers similar hospital and activity benefits. Additionally, Parkway officials are evaluating the possibility of continuing to sponsor some local activities in Hartselle for the membership.
Hartselle Medical Center is just one of many community hospitals everywhere and especially in Alabama that are struggling. According to the latest available data by the American Hospital Association, one in three of the nation’s hospitals are losing money. In a recent Alabama Hospital Association survey, nearly half of hospital CEOs said that their hospital was operating at a loss. This is due in part to the fact that Alabama is the most difficult reimbursement environment in the nation. In fact, hospitals in Morgan County – along with other rural hospitals in Alabama – are paid the lowest in the nation to treat Medicare patients. Payment from commercial insurance providers is also the lowest in the nation.
Located at 201 Pine Street, NW, Hartselle Medical Center has served Morgan County residents since 1948. For the latest news, visit the hospital’s website at www.HartselleMedicalCenter.com.
About Huntsville Hospital Health System
Huntsville Hospital Health System is a community-based, not-for-profit organization serving patients in north Alabama and southern Tennessee. Huntsville Hospital Health System is governed by the Health Care Authority of the City of Huntsville and is the eighth largest publicly owned hospital system in the nation. The System includes Huntsville Hospital, Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children, Athens Limestone Hospital, Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield, Red Bay Hospital, Decatur General Hospital, The Heart Center, Inc. of Huntsville and a multi-specialty physician network. Huntsville Hospital Health System is currently building a 60-bed hospital in the city of Madison. Affiliate institutions represent more than 1,500 hospital beds and 9,000 employees in the region. For more information, visit www.huntsvillehospital.org.