Becker's Hospital Review

15 CFO / FINANCE Tenet to Close 232- Bed Phoenix Hospital By Ayla Ellison D allas-based Tenet Healthcare will close its Abrazo Maryvale Campus, a 232-bed hospital in Phoenix, by the end of the year. e hospital is closing primarily because of dwindling patient volumes, said Frank Mo- linaro, market CEO for Abrazo Communi- ty Health Network, which encompasses six acute care hospitals. "Over the past several years Abrazo Mary- vale has experienced a significant decline in community demand for its services," said Mr. Molinaro. "e Abrazo Community Health Network's top priority is delivering high-quality, cost-effective care to residents of the greater Phoenix area, and we are prop- erly allocating our resources to meet our patients' and our communities' healthcare needs." Although the hospital will remain open un- til Dec. 18, it will no longer admit patients aer Dec. 1. "We will assist patients and their physicians in transitioning their care to other Abrazo Network facilities or the healthcare provider of their choice," said Mr. Molinaro. Officials said the closure of Abrazo Maryvale should not impact the community's access to care, as there are four acute care hospitals and 11 urgent care centers within the 6-mile area surrounding Abrazo Maryvale. e closure of the hospital will affect around 300 employees. All Abrazo Maryvale em- ployees who are in good standing will re- ceive priority for open positions within Abrazo Community Health Network and its affiliated partners, said Mr. Molinaro. Tenet, Abrazo Maryvale's parent company, is exploring a number of strategic options, including the sale of assets, divisions or the entire company. e 77-hospital chain end- ed the second quarter of this year with a net loss of $56 million, compared to a net loss of $44 million in the same period of the year prior. Tenet will release its earnings for the third quarter in November. n Los Angeles Hospital to Close, Lay Off 638 Employees By Ayla Ellison P acific Alliance Medical Center in Los Angeles will close Dec. 11. The hos- pital, which has provided care for more than 150 years, cited the costs of retrofitting its facilities to meet California's seismic standards as the reason for the closure. California law requires medical facilities in the state to meet certain seismic standards by Jan. 1, 2030, and Pacific Alliance Medical Center said it lacks a financially responsible way to make the required updates. "PAMC does not own the land on which our hospital sits, and the owner is un- willing to sell the land to us," the hospital said in a statement to Becker's Hos- pital Review. "The hospital building does not meet current California seismic standards, and it is not economically viable for us to invest nearly $100 million to build a hospital on land that we would not own." Although a California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice indicates all 638 of the hospital's employees will be laid off, PAMC said the facil- ity will "remain appropriately staffed until it closes." "We did not take this decision lightly, and we are committed to doing every- thing we can to ease the transition for affected employees," the hospital said. "We will work with other local hospitals to help find employment opportunities for our impacted staff." PAMC, which ended the first quarter of fiscal year 2017 with a $12.2 million net loss, is not the only California hospital closing due to the cost of meeting the new seismic requirements. Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health will close Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley in 2030, as it is not feasible for the hospital to be retrofitted by the last day of 2029. The hospital's services will be consolidated at Sutter's hospital in Oakland, Calif. n CVS Health Proposes to Buy Aetna for $66B: 4 Things to Know By Morgan Haefner P harmacy giant CVS Health is in talks to purchase Aetna, sources familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal in late October. Here are four things to know. 1. CVS Health made an offer to buy Aetna for more than $200 per share, or about $66 billion. 2. Negotiations began recently and took place between CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo and Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, Reuters reports. The deal is not expected for a few weeks, however publication of the discussion could expedite the pro- cess, the sources said. Both companies declined Reuters' request for comment. 3. Aetna's shares spiked more than 12 percent following The Wall Street Jour- nal's report on Oct. 26. The insurer's stocks climbed as high as $180.70 per share, up from $160.65 per share, as of 3:20 p.m. CT Oct. 26. CVS Health's shares dipped roughly 3 percent. 4. The deal follows Aetna's failed merger with Humana in February, under which Aetna was required to pay Humana a $1 billion breakup fee. n

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