Prime Closes Deal On Two Kansas Hospitals
California-based hospital operator Prime Healthcare Services has acquired two hospitals in Kansas, the company announced this week.
The for-profit Prime closed on the acquisition of 400-bed Providence Medical Center in Kansas City and 80-bed Saint John Hospital in Leavenworth from SCL Health System. Terms of the transaction, which was originally announced in January, were not disclosed.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said earlier this week that he would allow the deal to proceed after Prime promised to maintain levels of charity care at the two hospitals for at least the next five years.
Prime has pledged to invest $10 million in the properties, both of which had been losing money in recent years and likely would have closed if SCL, an affiliate of Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth, had not found a buyer.
A public hearing on the sale held last week aired few objections about the sale, according to the Kansas City Star.
“The communities in Leavenworth and Wyandotte Counties rely on the services provided by these twohospitals,” Schmidt said. “Keeping them open so they continue to provide health care services was clearly thetop priority for the affected communities, and the new owner's additional binding commitment to continuelistening to community input and to maintain charitable care confirm that this sale is a satisfactory option.”
Prime, which is based in Ontario, 30 miles east of Los Angeles, has had a controversial history in California, where it operates 14 hospitals. Media reports of the chain systematically billing Medicare for treating sepsis and a rare form of malnutrition at rates far higher than average indirectly led to a couple of deals being blocked by California Attorney General Kamala Harris. The company has since set its sights on states outside of California and has recently acquired properties in Texas, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
A physician group in San Bernardino, Calif. filed a lawsuit against Prime last month, alleging its profit-driven business practices pressured them to admit patients from emergency rooms when it wasn't necessary, and to list their conditions as more serious than they were.
