Community Health Systems is selling its last two hospitals in Washington state to help pay down debt.
Sunnyside (Wash.) Community Hospital & Clinics has agreed to pay CHS $45 million, including working capital, for 214-bed Yakima (Wash.) Regional Medical & Cardiac Center and 63-bed Toppenish (Wash.) Community Hospital, the systems announced Tuesday.
The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of next year and is subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
“The Yakima and Toppenish hospitals are valued community resources that will benefit from alignment with another regional provider,” CHS CEO Wayne Smith said in a statement.
Last month, struggling CHS agreed to sell its larger two-hospital system in Spokane, Wash., to MultiCare Health System for $425 million. The Rockwood Health System includes 388-bed Deaconess Hospital in Spokane, 123-bed Valley Hospital in Spokane Valley and the multispecialty Rockwood Clinic.
The Spokane and Yakima hospitals were about three hours apart, making the pair a small hub in the state that CHS felt it could afford to sell.
Franklin, Tenn.-based CHS is divesting hospitals and other assets to reduce a crushing $15 billion debt.
So far, the company has announced buyers for eight of the 17 hospitals that it is selling.
Negotiations are underway for the sale of the other nine hospitals.
CHS is the nation's second-largest, investor-owned hospital company with 158 hospitals.
