BARSTOW —Barstow Community Hospital will no longer be an asset of the largest for-profit hospital system in the United States.
Barstow Community Hospital, which is owned by North Naples, Florida-based Community Health Systems, relocated to a newly constructed facility in Barstow from its old campus in October 2013.
On January 7, 2014 Community Health Systems announced it was absorbing its major competitor, Health Management Associates Inc. That takeover made Community Health Systems the largest operator of hospitals in the country.
In February 2014, Community Health Systems transferred Steven Foster, who had been the CEO of Community Health Systems’ Oklahoma City-based Deaconess Hospital, to serve as interim CEO in Barstow. At that time Community Health Systems said it was conducting a national search for a new CEO, using a selection committee consisting of the hospital board, medical staff and hospital management. But Foster has remained in place in Barstow and is now referred to as the permanent status CEO at Barstow Community.
This week, Foster informed the community that Community Health Systems has created a separate corporate entity to be known as Quorum Health Corporation and that Barstow Community and 37 other Community Health System institutions will be spun off to it.
According to a Community Health Systems, Inc. press release, Quorum Health Corporation’s headquarters will be in Tennessee. The new corporation will have a board of directors and management team independent from Community Health Systems, as well as a diversified portfolio of 38 hospitals located in 16 states comprising 3,635 licensed beds. Quorum’s hospitals for the most part possess, according to Community Health Systems “strong market positions,” including a significant number of monopolies, located in cities or counties having populations of 50,000 or less.
“In 84 percent of these markets, the hospital is the sole provider of acute care hospital services,” the release said. “In 2014, the Joint Commission recognized 74 percent of the hospitals that will become part of Quorum Health Corporation as top performers in key quality measures. The new company will also include Quorum Health Resources, which provides hospital management and consulting services to 150 non-affiliated hospitals across the United States, which are located in similar markets as Quorum Health Corporation’s sole provider hospitals.”
The hospitals slated to be part of Quorum Health Corp. include three in Alabama: Cherokee Medical Center in Centre DeKalb Regional Medical Center in Fort Payne, and L.V. Stabler Memorial Hospital in Greenville; two in Arkansas: Forrest City Medical Center and Helena Regional Medical Center; two in California: Barstow Community Hospital and Watsonville Community Hospital; four in Georgia: Trinity Hospital of Augusta, Fannin Regional Hospital in Blue Ridge, Clearview Regional Medical Center in Monroe and Barrow Regional Medical Center in Winder; eight in Illinois: Union County Hospital in Anna, Metro South Medical Center in Blue Island, Galesburg Cottage Hospital, Gateway Regional Medical Center in Granite City, Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion, Crossroads Community Hospital in Mt. Vernon, Red Bud Regional Hospital and Vista Medical Center in Waukegan; three in Kentucky: Kentucky River Medical Center in Jackson, Three Rivers Medical Center in Louisa and Paul B. Hall Regional Medical Center in Paintsville; one in Nevada: the Mesa View Regional Hospital in Mesquite; two in New Mexico: Mimbres Memorial Hospital in Deming and Alta Vista Regional Hospital in Las Vegas; two in North Carolina: Sandhills Regional Medical Center in Hamlet and Martin General Hospital in Williamston; one in Ohio: Affinity Medical Center in Massillon; one in Oregon, McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center in Springfield; two in Pennsylvania: Lock Haven Hospital and Sunbury Community Hospital; two in Tennessee: Henderson County Community Hospital in Lexington and McKenzie Regional Hospital; two in Texas: Big Bend Regional Medical Center in Alpine and Scenic Mountain Medical Center in Big Spring; one in Utah: Mountain West Medical Center in Tooele; and one in Wyoming: Evanston Regional Hospital.
“Quorum Health Corporation is expected to have an enhanced ability to drive growth by capitalizing on acquisition opportunities consistent with its portfolio, developing facility specific operating strategies aligned with its community needs and better leveraging its management and consulting capabilities,” the press release states. “The spin-off will result in additional opportunities for profitable growth for Community Health Systems, as the company will focus primarily on larger markets and on investing in strengthening its regional healthcare networks, while maintaining the benefits of scale from being one of the largest hospital companies in the country. Community Health Systems stockholders will have the opportunity to realize the unique growth potential of two focused healthcare companies that will be better positioned to pursue their distinct business strategies.”