On July 30, THC and Falcon announced that MSMC Investors (jointly owned by THC and Falcon) had completed the acquisition of St. Francis Hospital & Health Center in Blue Island, Ill., SSM Hospice at St. Francis and SSM Home Care at St. Francis from SSM Health Care Corporation, and renamed the hospital MetroSouth Medical Center.
Previously, notwithstanding the investment of in excess of $75 million dollars over the past few years to make St. Francis a state-of-the-art facility with the latest technology, the hospital had lost millions of dollars and was projected to lose even more. On April 2, after repeated, unsuccessful attempts to sell or even give away St. Francis to faith-based providers, SSM decided to close the hospital. That decision was made more difficult because St. Francis is not only needed to continue providing quality healthcare to the community, but is also the largest employer in Blue Island. MSMC was the only buyer willing to step forward, agree to invest more than $30 million and take the risk of a turnaround.
Since the acquisition of the hospital by MSMC, the following are some of the changes that have been, or are in the process of being, made:
1. The governing board has been reconstituted to contain a majority of physicians.
2. OB/GYN services have been expanded by adding 10 OB board certified physicians and two nurse midwives. Two of those physicians are maternal, fetal medicine sub-specialist obstetricians to better serve high-risk maternity patients. The NICU has been expanded in size and scope to provide enhanced care to sicker, lower-weight babies. Around-the-clock, in-house obstetric coverage has also been added to foster a safer environment in which to deliver babies.
3. The community outreach programs have been expanded by adding several grant-supported health programs, including multi-lingual, culturally diverse outreach teams and screening for breast, cervical and prostate cancers.
4. The emergency department has been upgraded, bringing in a new ER team, and reducing discharge times to provide higher levels of care.
5. Full conversion to private rooms has continued so that, by the end of 2009, MetroSouth Medical Center will be the first hospital in the Chicago Southland communities to consist entirely of private rooms.
6. A commitment to make substantial capital improvements has been made including, without limitation, the addition of state-of-the-art equipment such as digital imaging and a 64-slice CT scanner.
7. Aggressive hiring to round out departments and reduce agency.
Most importantly, says THC, "MetroSouth Medical Center was close to breakeven in the first month of operation, a slight gain was achieved in September, and profitability is expected to be restored by the end of calendar year 2008; a result which is critical for the long term sustainability and growth of the hospital."
THC is actively seeking to acquire additional hospitals in a variety of locations. It is looking for hospitals that are located in or around urban areas that have been distressed financially but which continue to be needed to provide quality healthcare to their community.
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