Dive Brief:
- In its third acquisition from Trinity Health, Prime Health has inked a deal to acquire Philadelphia's Mercy Hospital for an undisclosed amount. Under the deal, Prime will invest $30 million in capital improvements for the hospital. In addition, Mercy will no longer be a faith-based provider, nor will it keep the Mercy name.
- Despite losing its Catholic affiliation, Prime has pledged to maintain the charity care levels set prior to the sale, said Mercy interim CEO Susan Croushore.
- In Mercy's announcement, Croushore said that the sale was "in the best interest of its patients, colleagues and community," citing Prime's track record of sustaining and advancing access to services through its acquired hospitals, as well as offering community benefits.
Dive Insight:
Seeing Prime pick up another financially troubled institution is no surprise. That's particularly the case, according to one expert quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer, given that Trinity had let the hospital go in recent years with regard to capital improvements and maintaining clinical staff levels.
"They have not been nearly as aggressive in recruiting physicians or maintaining capital plant and capital equipment for four years now," said Bill Cruice, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals. His union represents 155 nurses at Mercy. "We've been concerned about that for some time."
But it is intriguing to note that Prime's pledge to maintain traditionally-held charity care levels at Mercy echoes the provisions California Attorney General Kamala Harris mandated in its acquisition of the Daughters of Charity’s hospital chain. Actually, she stipulated that Prime take charity care into "record" territory, which is more than Prime promised Mercy. Regardless, it seems clear that Prime is trying to battle its reputation of stripping down hospitals following acquisition.