CHW/ST. MARY’S NEWS RELEASE
Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) announced today it has entered into exclusive negotiations with Community Health Systems Professional Services Corporation, a leading operator of general acute-care hospitals based in Franklin, Tenn., to discuss a possible future sale of Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nev. The organizations are now entering into a confidential due-diligence phase. Saint Mary’s sponsoring congregation, the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, has been actively engaged in these discussions. The Dominican Sisters, along with the CHW Board of Directors, will provide final approval if a sale proceeds. The transaction would be finalized in early 2012.
During this process, Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center will continue all normal operations. There will be no impact on patient care, employment, contracts, billing, or any other facet of Saint Mary’s daily operations. Saint Mary’s will retain existing employment levels in the near term and Community Health Systems has agreed to engage in good-faith negotiations with unions.
The changing health care environment is placing an even greater emphasis on delivering high-quality care at a lower cost. To ensure CHW and Saint Mary’s are optimally equipped to succeed in a reformed health care environment, we must carefully steward our resources to protect the availability of care both locally and across all of CHW’s service areas. CHW remains committed to ensuring that high-quality care, as well as consumer and physician choice of hospitals, is available in northern Nevada.
For several months, CHW has been working to identify a potential partner to help Saint Mary’s preserve and strengthen health care services in the region. Throughout the process, CHW and the Dominican Sisters’ priority has been to identify a partner that would reflect our commitment to the ongoing operation of Saint Mary’s and the mission of providing a quality hospital choice to consumers and physicians in the Reno community. We believe Community Health Systems can provide the right resources to further strengthen Saint Mary’s and advance the hospital’s commitment to serving this community with high-quality health care.
As part of this future transaction, most existing Saint Mary’s outreach programs and affiliated health centers, including Saint Mary’s Medical Group, will transition to subsidiaries of Community Health Systems. Saint Mary’s Health Plans will remain within the CHW network. The Saint Mary’s Foundation is a separate legal entity from Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center. While we expect it to continue to operate as a nonprofit community service foundation, any decision about its future direction will be made by its Board of Directors and its executive leadership.
Because terms of the agreement are still being negotiated, the parties are not able to provide any additional details until a definitive agreement is reached.
About Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center
Saint Mary’s Network is a fully-integrated, faith-based health system in Reno, Nev. founded in 1908 by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. The network is comprised of Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center, an acute-care hospital, providing inpatient, outpatient and wellness services; Saint Mary’s Health Plans, a statewide insurance provider with 44,000 members; and Saint Mary’s Medical Group, a network of physicians and other health professionals offering primary and urgent care, retail clinics and specialty health care. A member of Catholic Healthcare West, Saint Mary’s is dedicated to meeting the health care needs of our community. For more information, visit www.saintmarysreno.org.
About Catholic Healthcare West
Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), headquartered in San Francisco, CA, is a system of 40 hospitals and medical centers in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Founded in 1986, it is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health care systems and the largest private hospital system in California. CHW is committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality, affordable health care services with special attention to the poor and underserved. The CHW network of nearly 10,000 physicians and approximately 54,000 employees provides health care services to more than five million people annually. In 2011, CHW provided more than $1.4 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unreimbursed patient care. For more information, please visit our website at www.chwHEALTH.org.
About Community Health Systems
Located in the Nashville, Tennessee, suburb of Franklin, Community Health Systems, Inc. is one of the largest publicly-traded hospital companies in the United States and a leading operator of general acute care hospitals in non-urban and mid-size markets throughout the country. Through its subsidiaries, the Company currently owns, leases or operates 132 hospitals in 29 states with an aggregate of approximately 19,800 licensed beds. Its hospitals offer a broad range of inpatient and surgical services, outpatient treatment and skilled nursing care. In addition, through its subsidiary, Quorum Health Resources, LLC, the Company provides management and consulting services to non-affiliated general acute care hospitals located throughout the United States. Shares in Community Health Systems, Inc. are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CYH.”
