Late this month, SSM Health Care of Oklahoma plans to acquire the 114-bed Unity Health Center of Shawnee, Okla.
Under the terms of the acquisition, the not-for-profit, secular health center will be converted to a Catholic hospital that will follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. It will be renamed St. Anthony Shawnee Hospital.
The agreement expands upon a 10-year partnership between Unity and SSM. SSM leased and helped to manage a predecessor of Unity. When the hospital joined with another facility to form Unity, SSM retained a relationship with the merged organization, and SSM has since helped Unity to grow its services.
Chuck Skillings, Unity's president and chief executive, said it is a challenge for freestanding facilities to survive and thrive in today's health care environment because it is difficult for them to access the capital they need to continue to improve their facilities. He said Unity initiated the talks with SSM because it recognized the value of joining a large, high-quality system.
Joe Hodges, regional president and system vice president of SSM Health Care of Oklahoma, said acquiring Unity will enable SSM to expand its mission of revealing the healing presence of God into new parts of Oklahoma. Shawnee is about 40 miles east of Oklahoma City. SSM Oklahoma owns two hospitals in Oklahoma City and has a network of other affiliated hospitals and facilities throughout Oklahoma.
Hodges said the organizations are not disclosing Unity's purchase price.