Capella Health

Franklin, TN.  January 2, 2013. – Capella Healthcare announced today that it has finalized the sale of Jacksonville Medical Center (JMC) to  Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center (RMC), effective January 1, 2013.

“We are so proud of how Jacksonville Medical Center has grown in the time that they’ve been part of our Capella family,” said Dan Slipkovich, CEO of Capella Healthcare.  “The staff has been recognized nationally for both their quality of care and constituency satisfaction, having just been named for the second consecutive year to Modern Healthcare’s ‘Best Places to Work’ national listing.”

Healthcare reform and Alabama’s tough reimbursement climate both demand creative solutions from healthcare providers, Slipkovich said.  “Every hospital – even great ones like Jacksonville – must continue to expand patient access and quality while lowering costs. Under reform, close collaboration and increased scale is being rewarded as every hospital is being challenged to do more with less so having JMC affiliate with RMC is what makes the most sense for the future.  With this agreement, Jacksonville joins a well-respected, high-quality local system with a long-standing reputation for excellence.  While this was a difficult decision, we feel it will help ensure the stability of high quality patient care in Jacksonville for years to come.”

Alabama is one of the toughest reimbursement environments in the nation.  In fact, Alabama consistently ranks as the state that receives the lowest Medicare reimbursement per hospital, according to the Alabama Hospital Association.  It is clear that in the near future, healthcare providers must have considerable size to survive and thrive in the state.

According to David McCormack, CEO of RMC, the two hospitals have had a strong working relationship for many years. “Our two organizations have looked for ways to work more closely together for the past few years.  We are excited to be able to take this next step and welcome Jacksonville Medical Center to our organization. This move will strengthen care in our region by making collaboration easier and creating a more seamless network,” he said.  “There will be no disruption in services at Jacksonville during this transition. All Jacksonville employees will become part of the Regional Medical Center system.”

About Regional Medical Center

RMC is a 338-bed not-for-profit regional medical facility established in Anniston in 1944.  RMC is the first hospital in the area to be approved by the Commission on Cancer, to develop a fully operational cardiovascular surgical team and to house such high tech equipment as the digital Varian Acuity Simulator for cancer treatment planning. As Alabama’s only Baby Friendly Birthing facility and the only hospital in the area providing single incision daVinci surgical techniques, RMC is truly the regional healthcare provider to the community. RMC is accredited by The Joint Commission and has a medical staff of 185 physicians, representing all major specialties, and over 1400 employees. For more information, visit www.RMCcares.org

About Jacksonville Medical Center

Jacksonville Medical Center is an 89-bed facility, originally built in 1976 by the local health care authority.   The hospital has been named to Modern Healthcare’s prestigious “Best Places to Work in Healthcare” list for the last two consecutive years.   It is fully accredited by The Joint Commission, which also recognized JMC in 2011 for significant improvement and/or consistent high performance in various elements of the core measures, inviting the hospital to participate in a project to help other hospitals throughout the nation (Core Measure Solution Exchange™).  For more information, visit www.JMChealth.com

About Capella Healthcare

Capella Healthcare partners with communities to build strong local healthcare systems that are known for quality patient care. Based in Franklin, Tenn., Capella owns and/or operates 14 acute care and specialty hospital facilities in six states.  With the philosophy that all healthcare is local, Capella collaborates with each hospital’s medical staff, board and community leadership to take care to the next level.  The company has access to significant leadership and financial resources, investing in its family of hospitals to strengthen and expand services and facilities. For more information, visit www.CapellaHealthcare.com

 

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Certain statements contained in this release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties.  These forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical statements of fact and those statements regarding Capella Healthcare’s or management’s intent, belief or expectations, including statements about ultimate creation of this proposed joint venture and future operational plans of the proposed joint venture.  Actual future events or results may differ materially from these statements. No assurance can be given that the parties will enter into a definitive agreement or that the proposed joint venture will be formed. Readers also should refer to the documents filed by Capella Healthcare, Inc. with the Securities and Exchange Commission, specifically the most recent filings which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including execution of growth, acquisition and business strategies. These and other applicable risks are summarized under the caption Risk Factors in Capella Healthcare’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings. We make no promise to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of changes in underlying factors, new information, future events or otherwise.

 

Investor Contact:
Denise Wilder Warren, SVP, Chief Financial Officer
I[email protected]
(615) 764-3013

News Media Contact:
Beth B. Wright, VP-Corporate Communications
[email protected]
(615)-764-3010