In Brief: Kindred Acquires St. Louis Hospital, Cardinal Health, Ohio State Team On Campus Drug Abuse
Kindred To Acquire, Relocate St. Louis Hospital
Kindred Healthcare has entered into an agreement to acquire Mercy Continuing Care Hospital, a 54-bed transitional care hospital in St. Louis.
As part of the deal, Kindred will move the facility onto the campus of the 979-bed Mercy Hospital St. Louis, one of the city's largest acute care facilities.
Kindred, which is based in Louisville, Ky., currently operates two transitional care hospitals, an inpatient rehabilitation facility, and two other rehab units based in larger hospitals.
“Expanding our hospital services in St. Louis allows us to continue growing our continuum ofpost-acuteservices, enabling us to better continue the care for our patients throughout a post-acuteepisode,” said Kindred Chief Executive Officer Paul J. Diaz. “We are excited that we continue to have a robust pipelineof selective opportunities to expand our continuum of services in our integrated care markets that benefits our patients and ourshareholders.”
Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Cardinal, Ohio State To Combat Campus Prescription Drug Abuse
A charitable arm of Cardinal Health has launched an initiative with Ohio State University to stem the abuse of prescription drugs on campus.
The aim is to curb the abuse of prescription stimulant drugs such as Adderall, officials said.
The initiative, known as Generation RX University, is a toolkit intended to educate students and faculty on the perils of drug addiction.
According to a recent report by the White House Office of National Drug Policy, up to one-third of college students used prescription stimulant drugs when they experienced academic stress.
"The average age when prescription drug abuse starts is around 21," said Ken Hale, assistant dean forprofessional and external affairs at the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy. "It's critical that ourcolleges and universities do more to help prevent this potentially deadly behavior, and this new toolkit isdesigned to help them do that."
