Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1186182
14 CFO / FINANCE 22 hospital closures, state by state By Ayla Ellison F rom reimbursement landscape chal- lenges to dwindling patient volumes, many factors lead hospitals to close. Here are 22 hospitals that closed since Jan. 1, listed by state: Alabama 1. Georgiana (Ala.) Medical Cen- ter closed March 8. Ivy Creek Healthcare in Georgiana, which owns the hospital, cited growing costs and cuts to reimbursement as the reasons for the closure. Alaska 2. Sitka (Alaska) Community Hospi- tal closed July 29. Aer the hospital closed, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium took over the facility and began offering a va- riety of services, including a family clinic and long-term care. e former Sitka Communi- ty Hospital, which reportedly faced financial challenges, was integrated into Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital. Arkansas 3. North Metro Medical Center in Jackson- ville, Ark., closed Aug. 20, leaving local resi- dents without an emergency room. No notice was given before the hospital shut down. 4. De Queen (Ark.) Medical Center filed for bankruptcy in April and closed May 7. e 22-bed hospital, owned by Kansas City, Mo.- based EmpowerHMS, faced financial trou- bles for months before it shut down. Sevier County (Ark.) leaders originally planned to take over the troubled hospital, but they ulti- mately decided it was facing too many court judgments and liens to save. Illinois 5. Westlake Hospital in Melrose Park, Ill., closed in August, according to the Chicago Sun- Times. Los Angeles-based Pipeline Health re- vealed plans to close Westlake Hospital in Feb- ruary, a few weeks aer acquiring the 230-bed hospital from Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare. 6. MetroSouth Medical Center in Blue Island, Ill., suspended all services and discharged all patients in September. e Illinois Health Fa- cilities and Services Review Board approved the closure Oct. 22. Indiana 7. Kentuckiana Medical Center in Clarks- ville, Ind., closed April 5. e hospital, which opened in 2009, faced financial losses for years and previously filed for Chapter 11 bankrupt- cy, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. Kansas 8. Oswego (Kan.) Community Hospital and its two affiliated clinics closed Feb. 14. A statement from the board announcing the closure said the hospital, owned by Kan- sas City, Mo.-based EmpowerHMS, wasn't bringing in enough revenue to cover payroll and other expenses. Aer the abrupt closure, the hospital entered Chapter 11 bankrupt- cy on March 17. 9. Horton (Kan.) Community Hospi- tal closed March 12. e 25-bed critical access hospital, owned by Kansas City, Mo.-based EmpowerHMS, shut down aer struggling to pay utilities and missing payroll for several weeks. e hospital entered Chap- ter 11 bankruptcy on March 14. Louisiana 10. Doctors Hospital at Deer Creek in Leesville, La., closed in January, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Ser- vices Research. e hospital closed aer fil- ing for bankruptcy in October 2018. Missouri 11. I-70 Community Hospital in Sweet Springs, Mo., closed in February. e hospi- tal, owned by an affiliate of Kansas City, Mo.- West Virginia hospital files for bankruptcy, owes CHS $651K By Ayla Ellison W illiamson (W.Va.) Memorial Hospital entered Chapter 11 bankrupt- cy protection on Oct. 21, about 17 months after being divested by Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems. CHS sold the 76-bed hospital to Williamson-based Mingo Health Partners on June 1, 2018. A CHS subsidiary sued Mingo Health Partners in September, alleging the organization had failed to pay more than $600,000 for surgical implants and related supplies as well as IT and billing services provided after the transaction closed. Williamson Memorial Hospital provided a list of its 20 largest unsecured cred- itors as part of the bankruptcy case, which showed it owes CHS Professional Services Corp. more than $651,000. The hospital's second largest unsecured creditor is Huntington, W.Va.-based Ohio Valley Physicians, which it owes more than $486,000. In the Oct. 21 bankruptcy petition, Williamson Memorial Hospital listed its as- sets as between $1 million and $10 million and listed its liabilities as within the same range. n Healthcare M&A spending tops $51B in Q3 By Ayla Ellison H ealthcare merger and acquisition spending totaled $51.5 billion in the third quarter of 2019, up 65 percent year over year, according to HealthCareMandA.com. Although spending was higher year over year, deal volume was down. There were 408 deals announced in the third quarter of 2019, down 15 percent year over year and down 13 percent from the previous quarter. Only two sectors of the healthcare industry — hospitals and managed care — saw more deals in the third quarter of this year than in the same period last year. Hospital transactions were up 17 percent year over year and managed care deals increased 29 percent, according to the report. n