As Nashville-based HCA and Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare sell off their resource-draining hospitals in Florida, a new report looks at how the changes in hospital ownership will positively influence the Miami market.
The Miami Market Overview report was released by HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a provider of healthcare market intelligence.
HCA sold Cedars Medical Center, a 560-bed facility and the largest local HCA hospital, to the University of Miami in December 2007 for an estimated $260 million. This facility has provided UM's medical school with a hospital of its own.
The sale has in turn allowed local HCA operations to focus on Broward County where the hospital system has four of its six remaining hospitals-Northwest Medical Center in Margate, Plantation General Hospital in Plantation, University Hospital and Medical Center in Tamarac and Westside Regional Medical Center in Plantation.
In February 2007, Tenet sold North Ridge Medical Center, a 332-bed acute care hospital located in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., to Holy Cross Hospital for $20 million. Tenet said the proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.
Holy Cross Hospital, located within a few miles of North Ridge, has not announced its plans for the medical center but industry observers expect inpatient services to be consolidated at Holy Cross and for North Ridge to become an outpatient facility.
"The ownership shift creates new opportunities for the purchasers - the University of Miami and Holy Cross Hospital," said Margaret Dick, HealthLeaders-InterStudy senior market analyst and author of the report. "Both are poised to expand their influence in the marketplace."
According to the report HCA and Tenet have each nailed down national multiyear agreements with health plans such as Aetna, UnitedHealthcare and Humana to improve reimbursements and volume guarantees for their facilities.
Hospital Corporation of American or HCA, one of the top for-profit hospital operator in the US, operates about 169 hospitals and 115 outpatient centers in 20 states and England.
Tenet Healthcare Corporation, through its subsidiaries, owns and operates 56 acute care hospitals in 12 states.