Tenet Healthcare Corp. Friday announced it had signed a definitive agreement to sell Des Peres Hospital, as well as physician practices and hospital-affiliated operations in the St. Louis area, to St. Luke's Hospital.
The acquisitions allow St. Luke's, an independent not-for-profit provider based in Chesterfield, Mo., to expand its footprint. Des Peres Hospital is also situated in the western St. Louis suburb.
Meanwhile, Dallas-based Tenet continues to offload hospitals in non-core markets to pay down its $15 billion debt load.
The transaction is expected to be completed early this year pending customary regulatory approvals.
"In identifying a new owner for Des Peres Hospital as part of ongoing changes to our network, we have focused on securing the hospital's long-term sustainability for the benefit of its patients, employees and the physicians who practice there," Ron Rittenmeyer, executive chairman and CEO of Tenet Healthcare, said in a statement.
Des Peres is Tenet's last hospital in the St. Louis area, where the company does not have leading market share. Tenet is also shopping around its debt-collection business Conifer Health Solutions as it continues its restructuring plan that includes job cuts, reorganizing management, divesting hospitals and possibly breaking up the company's business segments.
