South Region news and information

IRVING, Texas—Christus Health, a Catholic not-for-profit health system, announced that it plans to enter into a joint venture with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a Chilean university owned by the Catholic Church. The memorandum of understanding signed by the two provides for...
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NORMAN, Okla.—The Federal Trade Commission bestowed a rare approval on a proposed arrangement between a large group of Oklahoma doctors and a local hospital, even though people involved with the new network admit that they plan to raise some prices. In a 21-page advisory opinion, FTC...
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ATLANTA—SunLink Health Systems is planning to delist its shares and sell underperforming facilities. All four of its hospitals are currently underperforming and it has hired advisers to evaluate the sale of at least two of them, the system said in a news release. SunLink's hospitals...
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BATON ROUGE, La.—Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration scrapped plans to shutter Louisiana's Medicaid hospice program in February. Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce Greenstein announced the reversal as hospice program supporters were gathering for a candlelight vigil on the state...
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Residents of the Mississippi Delta region are more likely to die from a number of conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and federal officials are trying to improve efforts to reduce those disparities by taking a more focused approach.
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NASHVILLE—Vanderbilt University Medical Center is further expanding its reach across the state with a new affiliation agreement with West Tennessee Healthcare, Jackson. The deal represents 909-bed Vanderbilt's fifth affiliation in the region since October 2011. The academic medical...
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MOBILE, Ala.—Mobile Infirmary Medical Center quickly resumed normal operations following a Christmas Day tornado that caused external damage and temporarily knocked out power. The 493-bed facility, the largest in the southern part of the state, relied on its backup generator in the...
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MELBOURNE, Fla.—Health First, a Rockledge, Fla., health system, plans to acquire Melbourne Internal Medicine Associates, a multispecialty physician practice. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Health First said in a news release that it plans to combine the new practice...
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FORT MYERS, Fla.—Acadia Healthcare Co., Brentwood, Tenn., purchased Park Royal Hospital, Fort Myers, for about $33.4 million in cash and assumed debt. The 76-bed psychiatric hospital, which opened in March, can be expanded to 114 beds within the existing building, according to an...
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Ten months after Kentucky Gov. Steven Beshear threw cold water on the University of Louisville Hospital's plans to be part of a three-way merger with two affiliates of Catholic Health Initiatives, the governor appeared at a news conference announcing that an extensive process of requesting and...
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