HOT TOPICS >> ARRA | Recovery Audit Contractors | Women in Health IT | Collections | Bond Ratings | Charity Care
M&A roundup: Ardent Health purchase of bankrupt Forum hits a snag
A subsidiary of privately owned Nashville, Tenn.-based Ardent Health Services wants to buy the assets of bankrupt Forum Health in Youngstown, Ohio, for $69.8 million, reports MedCity News. Forum filed a motion on June 10 asking the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to approve the deal, adds the Business Journal Daily. However, Forum's creditors are worried that Ardent "was able to take months to negotiate changes to collective-bargaining agreements with unions representing Forum Health's workers"--giving the company an unfair advantage over other potential bidders in a proposed auction, reports the Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review in the Wall Street Journal. The creditors (MBIA Insurance Corp., U.S. Bank and Fifth Third Bank) have asked Forum to "remedy the defects that will prevent a fair and open auction" by a June 22 hearing on the proposed sale.
Forum is selling Northside Medical Center, Trumbull Memorial Hospital, Hillside Rehabilitation Hospital, its physician practice, two diagnostic and imaging centers, and five laboratories. Ardent has agreed to keep the hospitals open and invest $70 million over five years to renovate the facilities.
In other merger news, Community Hospital of Long Beach (Calif.) is in merger talks with Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, part of the not-for-profit MemorialCare Health System, reports the Gazettes Town News. Community Hospital was closed 10 years ago by corporate owner Catholic HealthCare West and reopened in June 2001 as an independent not-for-profit serving east Long Beach. Community Hospital is seeking the merger to ensure the facility stays open long-term, says board Chair Nancy Myers. "This is not a fire sale ... We're still able to function, still able to pay our bills. The watchword in these talks has been to find how best to insure continued access to quality health care." Due diligence is expected to take a year to complete. However, Memorial will use a management services agreement to take over operations soon.
To learn more:
- read this MedCity News article
- read this Business Journal Daily report
- read the Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review report in the Wall Street Journal
- read the Gazettes Town News article
- read this Press-Telegram report
Related Articles:
Hospital mergers; Cardiac rehab
Hospital officials, state regulators blame each other for failure of R.I. hospital merger
Comments
Come here and look up and down the street. There has been no additional interest shown in the purchase of Forum Health, other than by Ardent Health Services, since fall of 2009. Who do the creditors/lenders think is going to come out of the woodwork to now participate in this supposed big 'auction'? They have forced nearly $20 million in expenses on us by demanding that we pay for numerous consultants to have on hand. I think this auction tactic is just another way to line their own pockets with our money by keeping us tied up in the bankruptcy court. Their consultants have done nothing for us other than to make sure we remain in the red after paying all their fees! As far as I'm concerned, you've already gotten $20 million of the money we owe you. Take the $70 milliion Ardent is offering and leave us alone!
Ardent came in with a friendly buy, taking into consideration that the union workers are what is keeping the hospital functioning. Wanting to purchase the entire system. The time has come for a sale, the community, the potential patient base is weary of all the bickering for the past 10 years. The system filed for bankruptcy in March 2009 but this has been going on for many years, the employees are becoming weary and the atmosphere is very tense and many times erratic which is not condusive to a peacful healing setting that patients and family caregivers expect. Consequently the system is losing potential revenues. The sale can not come soon enough and the creditors need to take the bid price and move this community forward.
Post new comment
Home
| Subscribe | Advertise | Mobile Edition | RSS |
Privacy
| Site Map | List in Marketplace | Supplier in MarketplaceTHE FIERCEMARKETS NETWORKFierceFinance | FierceFinanceIT | FierceComplianceIT | FierceHealthcare | FierceHealthFinance | FierceHealthIT | Hospital Impact | FierceMobileHealthcare | FierceHealthPayer | FiercePracticeManagement | FierceCIO | FierceCIO:TechWatch | FierceContentManagement | FierceMobileIT | FierceGovernmentIT | FierceBiotech | FierceBiotech Research | FiercePharma | FierceVaccines | FierceBiotechIT | FiercePharma Manufacturing | FierceMedicalDevices | FierceDrugDelivery | FierceIPTV | FierceOnlineVideo | FierceTelecom | FierceVoIP | FierceBroadbandWireless | FierceDeveloper | FierceMobileContent | FierceWireless | FierceWireless:Europe | FierceCable© 2010 FierceMarkets. All rights reserved. |
 |