PORTLAND, Maine—Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems acquired Mercy Health System in Portland on Oct. 2 after winning approval from state regulators. Mercy was previously owned by Catholic Health East, which recently merged with Trinity Health and is Brewer-based EMHS' eighth hospital in the state. “Our efforts as a healthcare system to deliver the right care, in the right place, and at the right time will be enhanced with the addition of Mercy Hospital to EMHS,” Michelle Hood, the not-for-profit system's president and CEO, said in a news release. Under the terms of the...
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NEWARK, N.J.—WellCare Health Plans has an agreement to buy some assets of Healthfirst Health Plan of New Jersey (known as Healthfirst NJ) as the company enters the Medicaid managed-care market in the state. New Jersey recently granted the Tampa-based company permission to begin offering Medicaid managed care in Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Passaic and Union counties starting Dec. 1, though the CMS still has to give final approval. New Jersey would become the ninth state in which WellCare provides...
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The newly branded Mount Sinai Health System must set about the delicate work of consolidating the operations of two of New York City's largest hospitals.
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HACKENSACK,N.J.—Seven systems that include 25 hospitals in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania are banding together in an alliance seeking the benefits of scale without the complications of merging assets. Providers clearly believe bigger is better in this era, and these systems are the latest to explore a kind of affiliation that does away with formal integration, and instead focuses on managing population health and increasing their joint purchasing power. Known as AllSpire Health Partners, the alliance brings together systems with combined revenue of $10.5 billion. Members of...
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NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y.—New York City-based Montefiore Health System announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York for its affiliates to acquire the assets of Sound Shore Health System. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close this fall. At that time, Montefiore will begin to provide services at Sound Shore Medical Center, New Rochelle, N.Y., Mount Vernon (N.Y.) Hospital and Schaffer Extended Care Center, New Rochelle. Montefiore said it would ensure healthcare services to residents of New Rochelle, Mount...
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MANHASSET, N.Y.—Only two hospitals have earned the U.S. Green Building Council's highest honor for the entirety of their operations: Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas, Austin; and Kiowa County Memorial Hospital, Greensburg, Kan. But Katz Women's Hospital in Manhasset is getting there one floor at a time. Katz Women's, a 73-bed facility attached to the North Shore-LIJ Health System's 804-bed North Shore University Hospital, had its renovated fourth floor certified LEED platinum as part of the USBGC's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program, which...
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By this fall, a health system that brings together the operations of Mount Sinai Hospital and Continuum Health Partners could eclipse New York Presbyterian Hospital as the largest provider in the city aside from its public safety net system, New York City Health and Hospitals Corp.
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WINCHESTER, Mass.—Winchester Hospital signed a preliminary agreement to join a larger suburban Boston competitor, Burlington, Mass.-based Lahey Health. The board of the 200-bed hospital had been seeking a potential partner since March 2012. Under a letter of intent with Lahey Health, Winchester would gain representation on the Lahey Health board equal to the organization's other two hospitals, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Beverly (Mass.) Hospital. Lahey merged with Beverly Hospital's parent, Northeast Health System, last year. Dr. Howard Grant would remain president and...
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A for-profit company that owns three hospitals in New Jersey unveiled a new identity as an integrated health system with plans to offer a Medicaid plan and sell insurance on the state exchange about to launch under the healthcare reform law. In recent years, the Jersey City, N.J.-based company, doing business as Hudson Holdco, acquired 170-bed Bayonne (N.J.) Medical Center, 381-bed Christ Hospital in Jersey City and 204-bed Hoboken (N.J.) University Medical Center.
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The Cambridge Health Alliance and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston agreed to form a clinical and academic affiliation. Cambridge Health Alliance, operated by a public authority established by the state Legislature in 1996, is composed of Cambridge Hospital and hospital campuses in Somerville and Everett, as well as the Cambridge Public Health Department. The tighter integration comes ahead of the Cambridge Health Alliance's plans to join the Beth Israel Deaconess Care Organization in 2014. The accountable care organization, formed with Harvard...
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Connecticut hospitals would win big under the CMS' latest update of its controversial rural-floor policy. The latest agency calculations project hospitals in the state will see a $75 million boost in fiscal 2014, compared with $16.7 million in the current fiscal year, because of a Medicare payment modifier based on rural and urban hospital categorizations in each state.
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Steward Health Care System is blaming Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island for tanking its bid to buy Landmark Medical Center in Woonsocket, R.I.The Boston-based system filed a lawsuit alleging the insurer used its dominance in Rhode Island to prevent Steward from entering the state. After spending years pursuing a deal to acquire the 133-bed community hospital and investing millions of dollars in the financially troubled facility, Steward walked away from the transaction in September.
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PITTSBURGH—UPMC, a not-for-profit health system with its tax-exempt status under attack, is fighting back with a lawsuit against its hometown and mayor. The health system's lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleges the city of Pittsburgh and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl violated UPMC's right to due process and equal protection when they filed suit in March to challenge UPMC's tax breaks. The health system also argued that it was illegally singled out and that the tax challenge infringed on its right to pursue business across state lines...
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NEW YORK—Amid upheaval in Brooklyn's hospital industry, a study released last week captures the health needs of residents in some of the borough's poorer neighborhoods who suffer from high rates of chronic illness. Bedford-Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Brownsville and Crown Heights residents feel health officials have not responded to their opposition to the closure of hospitals in the borough. The community health needs assessment, sponsored by the Brooklyn Hospital Center in conjunction with various community stakeholders, comes as officials are considering closing Long Island College...
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Pittsburgh's mayor said UPMC should pay property and payroll taxes because the hospital operator fails to meet state criteria for tax exemption, citing legal counsel that found the UPMC system likely spends too little on free care for low-income patients and too much on executive compensation to merit tax breaks.Luke Ravenstahl, Pittsburgh's mayor, announced the city's legal department would challenge UPMC's tax exemptions in court.
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NEW YORK—Cigarettes would have to be kept out of sight in New York City stores under a first-in-the-nation plan unveiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg last week, igniting complaints from retailers and smokers who said they've had enough with the city's crackdowns. Shops from corner stores to supermarkets would have to keep tobacco products in cabinets, drawers, under the counter, behind a curtain or in other concealed spots. Officials also want to stop shops from taking cigarette coupons and honoring discounts, and are proposing a minimum price for cigarettes, below what the going...
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Funding cuts from the state of New York are expected to sock publicly funded hospitals, particularly SUNY Downstate Medical Center, which has less than five months before it could face insolvency.The 360-bed facility in the New York City borough of Brooklyn is already working under a plan to reduce its workforce, cut costs, restructure its debt and maximize revenue. SUNY Downstate is also attempting to shutter 337-bed Long Island College Hospital, also in Brooklyn, which was pegged in a state audit as a “major cause” of its “fiscal stress.”
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PITTSBURGH—Insurer Highmark closed on a deal for its first hospital under a costly plan to diversify and compete with the region's well-financed and largest health system. Jefferson Regional Medical Center, in Jefferson Hills, Pa., will receive $100 million for capital projects under the deal, as well as cash for outstanding debt and pension costs, which Moody's Investors Service estimated to be $160 million. Jefferson Regional Medical Center's foundation will receive $75 million. Highmark in 2011 announced plans to expand into hospital operations with the proposed acquisition of...
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PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center announced that LifeSolutions, its not-for-profit organization that specializes in employee assistance programs, has acquired Erie, Pa.-based Northwest Beacon EAP. Though financial details of the agreement are not being released, the deal calls for six Northwest Beacon EAP staff to be retained as part of the purchase. They will continue serving their 60 northwest Pennsylvania clients from their Erie office but as employees of LifeSolutions. “While the decision to sell Northwest Beacon was difficult, I wanted to find a...
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North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System is facing a widening legal battle over allegations that it failed to notify hundreds of patients—including a doctor working at the system—that an identity-theft ring had stolen their unprotected confidential information.
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