Cleveland Clinic, CHS look toward Michigan

The Cleveland Clinic and Community Health Systems are looking to expand the reach of their joint alliance into Michigan—with a deal that would offer each system its first foothold in the state.

Metro Health Corp. in Wyoming, Mich., said it is exploring a “strategic equity partnership” with the CHS-Cleveland Clinic alliance, which was formed in March. The deal, if consummated, would provide Metro Health with access to capital through publicly traded CHS, and allow it to access the Cleveland Clinic's expertise on clinical matters.

Doyle Hayes, chairman of Metro Health's board of directors, said in a news release that the 208-bed hospital is in exclusive negotiations with Franklin, Tenn.-based CHS after considering a number of potential partners. The next step is to sign a letter of intent.

The 6-month-old alliance last month entered into negotiations for its first acquisition, of Akron (Ohio) General Health System, which would include 474-bed Akron General Medical Center, 38-bed Edwin Shaw Rehabilitation Hospital in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and 25-bed Lodi (Ohio) Community Hospital.

Yet, while Akron is only an hour from the Cleveland Clinic's flagship hospital, the Metro Health deal takes the academic medical center into the Grand Rapids metro area, representing its second foray outside Ohio—Cleveland Clinic also has a campus in Weston, Fla.

The deal would take 135-hospital Community Health Systems into its 30th state.

Follow Beth Kutscher on Twitter: @MHbkutscher