Health care is supposed to be first and foremost about taking care of the needs of patients. While this is still true, it is no doubt to anyone in Florida that health care is actually very big business in today’s society. From insurance companies to individual practitioners to drug manufacturers and more, there is no shortage to the number of individuals and entities that profit from taking care of people.
Many hospital systems are run by not-for-profit groups but some are owned and managed by for-profit organizations. One of these hospitals is Bay Medical Center in Florida. It is part of a larger organization called LHP Hospital Group. LHP Hospital Group has a total of five facilities in four different states – Texas, Idaho, New Jersey and Florida.
Recently, Bay Medical Center’s parent company announced that it will be completing a merger with another company at the start of next year. The other company is based in Nashville, Tennessee, and is Ardent Health Services. Ardent will maintain control of the new company’s operations and management in Tennessee. In total, the organization will have 19 hospitals spread out across six different states. Once the merger is complete, there will only be one other privately owned for-profit hospital system in the United States.
Deals like these can be very complex. Shareholders and many others must be involved and approve such transactions. Companies who are seeking to pursue mergers or acquisitions may wish to work with experienced legal counsel at every step of the way.
Source: Panama City News Herald, “Bay Medical Center included in hospital merger,” Katie Landeck, Oct. 5, 2016
