Saint Francis Care of Hartford, Conn., plans to purchase Stafford Springs, Conn.-based Johnson Memorial Medical Center, which is reorganizing under a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. The organizations have signed an asset purchase agreement, and Saint Francis Media Relations Manager Fiona Phelan said the deal could become effective by early 2016, pending bankruptcy court and regulatory agency approvals. The organizations are not disclosing financial details of the deal at this time.
Saint Francis Care, which is licensed for 617 beds, includes a teaching hospital, rehabilitation hospital, joint replacement institute, heart and vascular institute, cancer center and other sites. It has an agreement pending to join Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health, which operates 86 hospitals in 21 states. The nonprofit Johnson Memorial includes a 92-bed hospital, a continuum-of-care facility and a home health and hospice agency. Johnson Memorial's Stafford Springs headquarters is about 30 miles northeast of Hartford.
Leaders said Saint Francis' purchase of Johnson Memorial should help build Johnson Memorial's financial strength and stability and help it emerge from bankruptcy with less debt. Under an affiliation launched in July 2012, Saint Francis provides clinical support to Johnson Memorial as well as expertise in engineering, infectious disease prevention, physician recruitment, environmental services and supply chain management. The affiliation has improved operations, the organizations' leaders said.
Under the purchase agreement, Johnson Memorial would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Saint Francis and follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. Phelan said there are no plans to change Johnson Memorial's name, its management or its staff.
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