BEMIDJI, Minn.--The Federal Trade Commission has given antitrust clearance to Sanford Health's plans to acquire North Country Health Services, which is principally 118-bed North Country Regional Hospital. Sanford Health, which has headquarters in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Fargo, N.D., operates 14 Minnesota hospitals among 30 that it owns, leases and manages in Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas. The organizations announced in November that their boards had signed a letter of intent for North Country to join Sanford and that the deal would bring a commitment from Sanford to invest $75 million over the next decade in North Country's facilities, recruitment and technology. The FTC granted the deal early termination under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, which requires notification and review of significant mergers and acquisitions. A Sanford spokesman said the deal is expected to close in March.
MISHAWAKA, Ind.--The Franciscan Alliance health system is partnering with physicians at the Hammond Clinic in Munster and St. John, Ind. The two groups signed an agreement in which the more than 60 Hammond Clinic physicians will join the Franciscan Alliance network. The Franciscan Alliance has about 250 physicians employed at its four hospitals in northwest Indiana. The two groups entered into a due diligence period for the next few weeks. 'This partnership takes advantage of the vast healthcare delivery expertise found in both organizations and builds on a working relationship between the two organizations that spans decades,' Dr. Cynthia Sanders, medical director and managing member at the Hammond Clinic, said in a news release. Gene Diamond, regional CEO of the Franciscan Alliance hospitals in northern Indiana, added that the alliance is a 'logical next step, given the integration necessary to improve quality, control rising costs and meet the challenges of healthcare reform.'
ROCHESTER, Minn.--The Mayo Clinic received a gift of $100 million toward establishing a multisite proton-beam therapy program. The donation--which Mayo said in a news release is the largest outright gift in its history--comes from Richard Jacobson, the founder of Jacobson Cos., a warehousing, distribution and freight management company based in Des Moines, Iowa. Mayo said its proton-beam program would include facilities on its campuses in Phoenix and Rochester, where the structure will be named the Richard O. Jacobson Building. 'My dream has always been to establish a major new facility for Mayo Clinic,' Jacobson said in a news release. 'I began going to Mayo for my care when I was a child and continue to get my care there.' The technology is believed by some to be the most effective way to treat some tumors while not damaging surrounding tissue and organs. Mayo estimates the program will treat about 2,480 when both facilities are fully operational, expected by early 2016.
LINCOLN, Neb.--Catholic Health Initiatives, Denver, is in negotiations to acquire a physician-owned heart hospital and cardiac medical practice in Lincoln, where CHI already owns an acute-care hospital. The Nebraska Heart Hospital would have to follow Roman Catholic ethics after the acquisition, a CHI spokeswoman said. The change to not-for-profit status also apparently would allow the cardiac facility to expand, officials said. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act prohibited physician-owned hospitals from expanding. In Lincoln, officials with the Nebraska Heart Hospital and its physician practice, the Nebraska Heart Institute, have signed a nonbinding letter of intent to merge with CHI that gives both sides 90 days to negotiate a definitive agreement spelling out terms such as purchase price. Tom Burnell, CEO of the heart hospital, said in a news release that the ownership change will not affect the services available to patients. CHI and the hospital have partnered on care for the past 30 years, the news release said. CHI already owns 257-bed St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln.
KETTERING, Ohio--U.S. HealthWorks Medical Group, a Valencia, Calif.-based operator of occupational healthcare centers, has acquired three Kettering (Ohio) Workers' Care clinics in the Dayton-area towns of Huber Heights, Moraine and Franklin. The deal more than doubles the size of U.S. HealthWorks' presence in Ohio, according to a company news release. It also increases U.S. HealthWorks' nationwide number of facilities to 139. The company already had facilities in Columbus and Canton, Ohio. No financial terms of the deal, which was effective Feb. 7, were disclosed. The Ohio transaction comes on the heels of a deal in which U.S. HealthWorks acquired two Florida occupational medicine medical centers: Medwork 84 in Fort Lauderdale and Medstar in Pompano Beach. The deal closed Feb. 1; no terms were disclosed. The company, which employs some 350 doctors, has facilities in 13 states.
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