Dive Brief:
- Community Health Systems (CHS) is inking deals to sell 17 hospitals, the troubled systems's CEO Wayne Smith announced during Wednesday's third-quarter earnings call.
- In total, it is estimated that the divestitures will bring in net proceeds of about $1.2 billion.
- The seven transactions are at varying stages, with some potentially ready to be announced within 2016, while others may not be announced until after the second quarter of 2017.
Dive Insight:
The divestitures of the 17 hospitals follow a previous announcement of the sale of a four-hospital joint venture and an April deal in which CHS spun off 38 of its hospitals into a separate entity--Quorum Health Corp.
The system has previously indicated it may sell up to 30 of its hospitals in a strategy to streamline its operation to focus on its regional hospital hubs, and that the company might even put itself on the block.
The company has been struggling to bring down its debt of $15 billion, which has also involved the sale of its majority stake in its home health division. CHS has been in trouble since acquiring Health Management Associates in 2014 that owned 23 hospitals and some clinics in Florida.
Just last week, a grim preview of its third quarter earnings resulted in CHS' common stock dropping from $10.03 at the close of business Wednesday to $5.08 at the close of business Thursday. This week its finalized numbers indicated a third quarter net loss of $79 million compared to a net income of $52 million for the quarter last year.