Baptist Health System and Tenet Healthcare Corp. have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that will operate a healthcare network serving Birmingham and central Alabama. Under the deal, Tenet will be the majority partner and will manage the network's operations.
The deal is part of a broad effort by Tenet to form networks with other providers that allow the company to expand its use of value-based insurance contracts.
The new company will unite Birmingham-based Baptist Health's four hospitals—Princeton Baptist Medical Center, Birmingham; Citizens Baptist Medical Center, Talladega; Shelby Baptist Medical Center, Alabaster; and Walker Baptist Medical Center, Jasper—with Tenet's Brookwood Medical Center in Birmingham. Together, the new system will have 77 outpatient and physician-office facilities, including clinics delivering primary and specialty care; 1,500 affiliated physicians and 7,300 employees.
The systems announced they were exploring an agreement last December, and the transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2015. —Michael Sandler