Community Health Systems on Friday announced the spinoff date for its new company, Quorum Health Corp. (QHC). The Franklin, Tenn.-based system also bought a majority interest in a small hospital in Fayetteville, Ark.
CHS, the nation's second-largest hospital chain after Nashville-based HCA, said that CHS shareholders will get one share of Quorum Health Corp. on April 29, 2016, for every four shares of CHS they own. The distribution will go to shareholders of record on April 20.
Following the spin-off, QHC will own or lease 38 hospitals, with a total of 3,582 licensed beds. Its hospitals are located in 16 states, primarily in cities or counties with populations of 50,000 or less.
QHC will be independent of CHS and will also operate Quorum Health Resources, a hospital management advisory and consulting business, CHS said in its release. Quorum shares are expected to start trading on May 2, under the “QHC” ticker symbol. CHS wanted the spin-off to happen in the first quarter, but decided to wait until the equity markets and the company's stock stabilized.
The system's shares closed at $18.67 Friday, up more than $4 per share from a 52-week low of $14.56 on Feb. 16.
CHS will own and operate about 160 hospitals after the spin-off.
Another new property in its portfolio is 20-bed Physicians' Specialty Hospital in Fayetteville, Ark. CHS bought an 80% interest in the facility.
Physicians' Specialty Hospital is in a region served by Northwest Health, a CHS-affiliated network with three hospitals, four convenient-care centers and several outpatient clinics.
