Saint Thomas Health of Nashville, Tenn., plans to create a joint venture company with the private, Franklin, Tenn.-based Capella Healthcare in a move that Saint Thomas' head said is needed to achieve the "fundamental, transformational change" necessary in health care today.
"It's important for us to develop a regional, integrated delivery system to provide high-quality, accessible and affordable health care," said Dr. Michael Schatzlein, president and chief executive of Saint Thomas, which is an Ascension Health system with five Tennessee hospitals.
Under the partnership, Saint Thomas and Capella will jointly own and operate four Capella hospitals in Tennessee. Capella operates 11 other hospitals in seven states. None of Saint Thomas' hospitals will be part of the joint venture.
Saint Thomas will hold an equity interest in the joint venture; it will become the four Capella hospitals' tertiary care partner; and the Capella hospitals will be part of Saint Thomas' network but will remain secular. Capella will be the majority partner in the venture; and it will manage the facilities. Any facilities that Capella or Saint Thomas acquire in Middle Tennessee under this partnership will be considered part of the joint venture. Additional details of the deal, including the amount of equity each venture partner plans to contribute, were not available as Catholic Health World went to press.
Schatzlein said the joint venture arrangement is intended to expand and enhance services in Middle Tennessee, including cardiac, neurosciences and other specialties. The deal also is designed to enable Saint Thomas and Capella to collaborate on technology improvements and to integrate clinical services.
Saint Thomas and Capella are conducting due diligence. At press time, the partners expected the new partnership to begin around March 1.
The Capella facilities in the joint venture are River Park Hospital in McMinnville; White County Community Hospital in Sparta; DeKalb Community Hospital in Smithville; and Stones River Hospital in Woodbury.