CMC to explore partnership with HCA Healthcare
Sep. 27—Catholic Medical Center announced Wednesday it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to explore a partnership with HCA Healthcare, the first step toward a potential agreement to have one of the state's largest healthcare systems join the Tennessee-based healthcare network.
HCA Healthcare owns 185 hospitals and 123 surgery centers in 21 states and the United Kingdom. In New Hampshire, HCA owns Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Parkland Medical Center in Derry, Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester and freestanding emergency rooms in Seabrook, Dover and Plaistow.
"We've been on a journey for a little over a year to select a partner, and it's a process that's focused on a number of things that will allow CMC to continue to provide world-class Catholic health care to this community," Alex Walker, CMC's President and CEO, said in a phone interview.
Walker said hospital officials have been looking for a partner that shares CMC's core values and its commitment to its Catholic identity, supports CMC's adherence to the and religious directives required of Catholic health facilities and can bring financial resources to the table.
"We, like a lot of organizations, are in need of capital improvements," Walker said. "We need to continue to invest in our people, in our technologies, and so as we spoke with dozens of organizations here in New Hampshire and around the country, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, ultimately HCA rose to the top and offered many of the things that we're looking for.
"As we turn into 2024, we're going to celebrate our 50th anniversary as Catholic Medical Center, when Sacred Heart Hospital and Notre Dame Hospital came together, and our focus is on the next 50 years. HCA is very excited, very enthusiastic to take this next step with us."
The non-binding letter of intent is the first step in a lengthy process involving more due diligence, negotiation of final terms, and approvals.
HCA is a for-profit company, but in a joint statement, representatives of CMC and HCA said the two organizations plan to create a non-profit foundation with the goal of meeting the growing demand for healthcare services in New Hampshire and support CMC's existing workforce with job training, education opportunities and "industry-leading technology."
"We have been engaged in a thorough process to identify a partner who will help us ensure the needs of our community will continue to be met now and in the future, without compromising our Catholic identity," said Timothy Riley, chair of CMC's Board of Trustees, in a statement.
"We have seen this successful model with HCA Florida Mercy Hospital, an HCA Healthcare Catholic hospital in the Archdiocese of Miami, and are confident in HCA Healthcare's commitment to ensure CMC will continue to operate as a Catholic hospital in accordance with the ERDs (Ethical and Religious Directives)."
Keeping Catholic identity
The Most Rev. Peter Libasci, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester, said "unwavering adherence to Catholic moral and principles, and actual practice," in the delivery of healthcare is a "foremost priority" for him.
"The integrity of Catholic identity as both Catholic Medical Center and HCA Healthcare follow the process of due diligence in this proposed partnership has been accepted as paramount," Libasci said in a statement. "The parties engaged in this endeavor are fully immersed in the process to provide an authentic reflection of the Catholic identity and excellent care that has been provided to the community over the past 131 years.
"I am grateful for the faithful commitment to this mission and for Catholic Medical Center's place on the hill as a shining symbol of hope arising from steadfast faith. The responsibility for an uninterrupted future is now placed squarely in our hands."
Three forums are scheduled for CMC employees to discuss the potential partnership on Thursday and Friday. Forums at which community members can speak on the proposal will be scheduled in the coming weeks, officials said.
Approvals are needed by the charitable trusts unit in the state Department of Justice as well as by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
Walker said CMC is looking forward to engaging with the community in the coming months as part of the process of potentially finalizing an agreement with HCA by early 2024.
"Announcing a nonbinding letter of intent today, that's not something that we had to do," Walker said. "We're not required by law to do that, but our view is we want to be engaged with our community, with the citizens of Manchester, so part of this process will be to listen and let folks know what we're thinking about and hear from them. That's an important part of the process as far as we're concerned."
Previous proposal nixed
Wednesday's announcement comes just over a year after state regulators shut down a proposal to combine Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health and Catholic Medical Center parent company GraniteOne over concerns it would hurt competition and could result in higher prices for care.
The two providers had claimed the union would not be a merger but rather a combination of financial, administrative and clinical systems.
In a September 2022 report on the proposal, the Charitable Trusts Unit of the New Hampshire Department of Justice said it believed the combination deal would mean less competition in health care in New Hampshire,and therefore deemed the deal unlawful.
The state warned the impact would have been most keenly felt in the Manchester area, home of Catholic Medical Center and a large outpatient clinic operated by Dartmouth, and the southwest part of the state, where GraniteOne's Monadnock Community Hospital is not far from the Dartmouth-owned Cheshire Medical Center.
Walker said the hope is the process will play out differently this time.
"As we went through our partner selection, we focused on a number of different things we're looking for and one of those things was a partner that would not create regulatory concerns," Walker said. "We're hopeful that if we get to a point where we're able to come to terms on a definitive agreement that it'll be an agreement that will pass muster with the regulators.
"We spent a lot of time last time around and we are looking to move forward and pick a partner that's going to help usher in the next 50 years of CMC's journey."
