One of the Richmond region’s major health care providers is buying three hospitals in Virginia, including Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg.
Cincinnati-based Bon Secours Mercy Health, a not-for-profit Catholic health care system with more than 40 hospitals, announced Monday that it has signed an asset purchase agreement to acquire the three hospitals from affiliates of Community Health Systems Inc., a Franklin, Tenn.-based owner of 102 hospitals in 18 states.
In addition to the 300-bed Southside Regional Medical Center in Petersburg, the deal includes Southampton Memorial Hospital, a 105-bed hospital in the city of Franklin; and Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center, an 80-bed hospital in Emporia. They are Community Health Systems’ only hospitals in Virginia.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Bon Secours said Monday that both companies are working to finalize a deal and expect it to close by the end of this year.
In the Richmond area, Bon Secours operates St. Mary’s Hospital, Richmond Community Hospital, Memorial Regional Medical Center and St. Francis Medical Center. It also owns Rappahannock General Hospital in Kilmarnock.
Southside Regional Medical Center has a 50-acre campus and employs about 380 physicians working in more than 40 specialties. The hospital also has seven satellite outpatient centers, according to its website.
In July 2018, Southside Regional Medical Center opened a 24-hour emergency care center in Colonial Heights. The facility has 10 exam rooms, diagnostic imaging and lab services.
Southside Regional Medical Center traces its roots to the Petersburg Home for the Sick that opened in 1884. The name changed to Petersburg Hospital in 1886 and to Petersburg General Hospital in 1953.
The name changed again to Southside Regional Medical Center in 1986.
In 2003, the Petersburg Hospital Authority sold Southside Regional to Community Health Systems.
The new owners built a new $145 million hospital, which opened in July 2008, relocating the hospital from 801 S. Adams St. near downtown Petersburg to Medical Park Boulevard.
Community Health Systems has been selling hospitals as the company seeks to stem losses related to declining admissions.
The company sold 11 facilities and closed three others in 2018. It reported a $788 million loss for 2018, less than its loss of about $2.4 billion in 2017.
The company announced in August that it had sold nine hospitals to date in 2018. Later in August, it announced that it had completed the sale of two hospitals in Florida, and in September, it sold a hospital in Bluefield, W.Va.
The deal to sell the Virginia hospitals comes less than a week after Bon Secours named a new president for the health system’s Richmond market. Faraaz Yousuf was named to replaced Toni R. Ardabell, who left the role earlier this year for a job at Inova Health System in Northern Virginia.
Yousuf, who will start the job on Dec. 1, currently is responsible for strategic planning for Bon Secours Mercy Health’s Atlantic Group, which includes five states from New York to Florida.
When the deal is complete, Southside Regional Medical Center and Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center will become part of the company’s Richmond market, led by Yousuf, a spokeswoman for the health care system said.
Southampton Memorial Hospital will become part of Bon Secours Mercy Health’s Hampton Roads market, which is led by Amy Carrier, the spokeswoman said.
“Bon Secours Mercy Health is strategically focused on how we can best fulfill our mission and meet the needs of our patients and communities,” John Starcher, Bon Secours Mercy Health’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
“Southeastern Virginia is a very attractive growth market, and we look forward to continuing to invest in the health and well-being of area residents, while ensuring our facilities are places where associates want to work, clinicians want to practice, people seek wellness and communities thrive,” Starcher said.