Staff report
Novant Health, which recently merged with Rowan Regional Medical Center, has purchased a 27 percent share ownership of seven Health Management Associates hospitals.
The $300 million purchase was part of an agreement reached Monday. The hospitals, located in North and South Carolina, include Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville and Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville.
The other hospitals are located in Louisburg and Hamlet in North Carolina and Chester, Gaffney and Hartsville in South Carolina. In total, the hospitals have 711 beds.
Paul Wiles, president and chief executive officer of Novant Health, said he and other officials in the health care system have been impressed by Health Management Associates’ commitment to the communities they serve.
“The seven hospitals are community leaders in their respective counties,” he said. “We believe that together we can prioritize the highest quality of care for patients and accessible health care for residents, including those who struggle financially.”
Burke W. Whitman, president and chief executive officer of Health Management Associates, said the organization’s leaders are pleased and honored to have Novant Health as a partner.
“Novant has an unsurpassed reputation for delivering high quality, innovative health care to the residents and visitors of North Carolina,” he said. “Novant’s partnership will materially reinforce our mission, strengthen our operating performance and provide a more comprehensive service network for our patients, physicians and the communities we serve in North and South Carolina.”
The two health care systems will share governance of the joint venture through a partnership board. Health Management Associates will continue to manage the hospitals on behalf of the joint venture.
The partnership will also establish a quality advisory committee with equal representation from both organizations with an objective of ensuring that all seven hospitals exceed the hospital industry’s leading benchmarks for clinical and service quality.
The partnership will also develop several mutually beneficial revenue and operational synergies, including more seamless delivery of care.
Novant Health, which merged with Rowan Regional in January, is a not-for-profit integrated health care system including nine hospitals, an 830-physician medical group, two nursing homes and 130 outpatient facilities including diagnostic centers, rehabilitation programs, surgery centers and community health outreach programs.
Health Management Associates owns and operates 58 hospitals with about 8,300 licensed beds in non-urban communities throughout the United States.