ShorePoint Health Venice hospital to close Sept. 22; emergency services to end Aug. 29

VENICE — Community Health Systems Inc. is closing its ShorePoint Health Venice hospital effective Sept. 22, with emergency services discontinued as of 7 a.m. Aug. 29.

The hospital company will continue its outpatient services, notably at its ShorePoint Health Park on Jacaranda Boulevard.

Hospital officials, in a news release, pointed to changes in health care services available in the region – specifically the opening of the new Sarasota Memorial Hospital Venice campus last November – as a reason for the closure.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital Venice: Campus fulfills artistic vision as it prepares to open

Earlier: CHS buys hospitals from HMA for $7.6 billion

ShorePoint Venice CEO Kelly Enriquez spent a good portion of Monday answering questions from employees at different departments in the hospital.

In a prepared statement, Enriquez said, “ShorePoint Venice employees have provided outstanding care to Venice residents throughout the years, and we are extremely grateful for their dedication and compassion.

“Retaining our valued team members is our top priority during this transition,” she added.

Physician network to continue seeing patients in Venice area practices

Current plans call for members of the ShorePoint Medical Group physician specialist network to continue seeing patients in their Venice area practices and the hospital is exploring how that can be aligned with one its remaining hospitals, ShorePoint Port Charlotte.

Elective surgeries will cease at the hospital on Aug. 26 with all subsequent surgeries shifted to the ShorePoint Health Park.

The hospital currently has an average daily census of 40 patients. The goal is to have all of those individuals discharged by the Sept. 22 closing date.

The 312-bed private hospital opened on Dec. 3, 1951 as South Sarasota Memorial Hospital and was renamed Venice Memorial Hospital in February 1952.

The current 67-year-old facility opened in 1955.

It was subsequently sold three times, including a 2014 sale to CHS, which purchased two dozen hospitals from Health Management Associates for $7.6 billion.

Plumbing issues led to raw sewage leaks and other issues at the hospital in 2015-16, which contributed to an erosion in public confidence in the hospital.

Related: Unbelievable problems at Venice hospital

In addition to the opening of SMH-Venice, a release from spokeswoman Danielle Gagliano cited the fact that the hospital had experienced a decline in patients, as well as increased labor costs and inflation, some of which is attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June, ShorePoint Health Venice announced a joint venture with Select Medical, a post-acute care recovery hospital, that would establish a long-term care inpatient hospital on two floors of the Venice hospital.

Gagliano later said via email that there are continued discussions in a shift of focus in the joint venture partnership and there are no ready details about the future of the hospital building.

While the emergency department is set to close on Aug. 29, closure at the rest of the facility will be phased in, with ShorePoint officials working with patients, as well as first responders and other area hospitals, to ensure that patients receive continuity of care.

Area hospitals prepare for service change

Sarasota Memorial Health Care System President & CEO David Verinder, said in a prepared statement, that the public hospital was preparing to handle the extra patient care.

“While the closing of ShorePoint Venice is concerning, we want to reassure the community that Sarasota Memorial stands ready to help fill any gaps in care that may ensue, while also providing jobs for as many displaced healthcare workers as we can,” the statement read. “Sarasota Memorial is well positioned to meet our community’s healthcare needs today and in the years ahead, with more than 1,000 beds at two hospital campuses in Sarasota and Venice, expansion of our Venice hospital already under way, a freestanding ER in North Port, and comprehensive network of outpatient and urgent care centers.”

In an internal email to staff, Verinder later noted that while the daily census of 40 patients at ShorePoint's facility may seem low,  the closure will pose some challenge since hospitals at both the Sarasota and Venice campuses are running  at capacity.

Steve Young, chief executive officer of HCA Florida Englewood Hospital, in a prepared statement, called it a challenging time for the community as a whole, “and we are working hard to ensure a smooth transition for patients and to provide potential job opportunities for those affected.

“We are expecting the arrival of patients in the weeks ahead as many of the affected physicians are also on staff at area HCA Florida Healthcare hospitals.

“We offer all the same specialties of care making it a logical and easy transfer for patients.”

“The closing of a hospital is difficult for the community and everyone involved,” Bob Meade, chief executive officer of HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital, said in the same statement. “We’ve been caring for patients from Venice since 1967 and have a personal approach to all we do. We remain committed to Venice and have the resources to continue to serve the community.”

Sarasota Memorial and HCA – which operates Sarasota Doctors Hospital; Fawcett Hospital in Charlotte County, and Blake Hospital in Manatee County – are all hosting job fairs this week, designed to target displaced ShorePoint Venice employees.

Sarasota Memorial will host its job fair from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday at Hotel Venezia, 425 U.S. 41 Bypass North, Venice – walk-ins are welcome.

HCA Florida hosted walk-in events from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at all four of its hospitals in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties for prospective employees.

HCA Florida will then host a coffee chat from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.. Wednesday at the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce, 597 S. Tamiami Trail, Venice.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, HCA Florida will host a hiring event at the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce.

Recruiters and hiring managers are empowered to offer qualified candidates on the spot.

Candidates should bring a resume with them.

Nurses with a variety of experience are needed, especially those with operating room and cath lab experience.

Patient care technicians, food and nutrition service  assistants, as well as transporters, environmental services and maintenance techs are also being sought.

News of hospital closure disappointing, but not a surprise

News of the closure – which started to bubble up through rumors last week, as word leaked from several closed-door meetings – was met with disappointment but not surprise.

“We haven’t heard directly what’s happening there,” said Kathly Lehner, president and CEO of the Venice Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s very sad for us to know that what was right across the street – and our landlord as well – is not going to be there.

“It will hurt, I feel,  the community on the island itself,” Lehner added, citing residents who will soon have to travel to SMH-Venice, at the intersection of Pinebrook and Laurel roads for care.

Venice Mayor Ron Feinsod said the announcement was not a shock to him, since officials at the hospital, which was known as Venice Regional Bayfront Health until a November 2021 rebranding, had talked to him about tearing down the existing campus and replacing it with a smaller one.

“I knew that they were trying to find a way to remain on the island but I'm not surprised they couldn't find a way,” Feinsod said. “It’s unfortunate but I think it was somewhat inevitable.”

Emilio Carlesimo, a former member of the Venice City Council and the hospital board for Venice Regional Bayfront Health, was surprised and saddened by the news.

“Venice Hospital has served the community for so long, they have a good history in this town, “ Carlesimo siad. “I hate to see a good hospital drop by the wayside.

A little competition is good,” he added. “I hate to see all the competition in the county go away.”

Carlesimo said ShorePoint Health was his first choice for care, even after the Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice campus opened.

Handwriting on the wall

Jon Preiksat, the chief legal officer at Venice Memorial Hospital when it was sold to Bon Secours Health Care Systems for $85 million, was not surprised that the current owner is closing the facility.

“The handwriting was always on the wall but it was never really visible,” Preiksat said. “When Sarasota Memorial began building its new facility on Laurel Road, it became evident that it's’ going to be a tough row to hoe for Venice hospital.”

Preiksat also referenced Sarasota Memorial’s recent decision to open a hospital in North Port and the second-quarter earning report for Community Health Systems Inc. as other likely factors to influence the decision to close the Venice campus.

Franklin, Tennessee-based CHS reported a 3.5% decrease in admissions for sale-site hospital admissions companywide, for April-June, 2022, compared to 2021.

Meanwhile the parent company’s net operating revenue for that period was $2.9 billion, which was a 2.4% decrease compared to the $3 billion in 2021.

More significantly, the CHS posted an adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization for that quarter of $253 million compared to $453 million for the same timeframe in 2021.

COVID-19 pandemic relief funds accounted for $8 million of the EBITDA in 2022 and about $1 million in 2022.

“What kept them afloat – I hate to say it – was COVID and the additional payments made by the federal government to keep all hospitals open during COVID,” Preiksat said.

Hospital sale prompted by uncertain future

In 1995, the board of directors of Venice Memorial Hospital recognized that competition would complicate things for the 312-bed hospital.

“They ran the numbers forward and said the best thing to do was to link up with another not-for-profit hospital system to pick up on economies of scale,” Preiksat said.

At the time, four suitors emerged – Bon Secours, Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Health Management Associates and Hospital Corporation of America.

SMH, HMA and HCA all were willing to pay more than $100 million for the Venice public hospital.

Preiksat said that the sale price of $85 million was set because any proceeds received above that sum would have just been recaptured by Medicare for advanced payments.

“There was no economic advantage to the community to sell for more,” Preiksat said. “What drove the decision to sell to Bon Secours was their mission, the fact that they were a Catholic charity and had a good record and visited all their facilities.

`"Compared to all bidders, the board selected Bon Secours because they had a mission more compatible with the way Venice hospital has always operated.”

The sale closed on Aug. 31, 1995.

Bon Secours operated the hospital until the summer of 2004, when it sold both the Venice Hospital and Bon Secours St. Joseph Hospital in Port Charlotte to Naples-based Health Management Associates Inc. for a combined $275 million, plus pledging to contribute $25 million in working capital.

Both hospitals combined to lose $20 million the previous year.

By then the other bidders were Community Health Systems Inc.and Sarasota Memorial.

The sale price was not disclosed, though Sarasota Memorial reportedly offered $120 million for the Venice hospital.

Published reports in the Herald-Tribune noted that the SMH deal fell apart as it tried to bring in another partner to purchase St. Joseph, since the public hospital board cannot own an out-of-county facility.

Weeks after missing out on that deal, SMH started the process to file a letter of intent with the Agency for Health Care Administration to transfer as many as 160 beds to a new hospital in south Sarasota County.

Then, in the summer of 2015, CHS bought out HMA’s Florida hospitals.

In September 2015, with Venice Regional Bayfront Health plagued by the sewage problems, Sarasota Memorial offered to buy the hospital for $80 million to $85 million and eventually replace the aging facility with a new hospital.

CHS rejected those overtures.

Both Sarasota Memorial and CHS filed for certificates of need with AHCA to build new hospitals in Venice. Surprisingly, once legal challenges ended, both hospital companies were awarded certificates of need to build new hospitals.

Sarasota Memorial broke ground in April 2019 on its Venice campus, which opened in November, 2021.

Meanwhile CHS received zoning approvals from Sarasota County in January 2019 that would allow it to build a 210-bed campus on East Venice Avenue.

For a variety of reasons, ranging from the cost to widen a portion of East Venice Avenue to a change in the dynamics of the health care industry after the state of Florida abolished the certificate of need process for approving new health facilities, that never happened.

CHS formally abandoned plans for the new campus in November 2020 and pledged to reinvest in the existing hospital.

Last December the three hospitals and two medical practices that operate under the auspices of CHS were rebranded as ShorePoint Health.

“It’s the end of an era,” Preiksat said. “It’s a shame but Venice Hospital served its community well and the community supported it for years but they were under significant pressure from competition and bigger hospitals.”

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Community Health Systems Inc. to close ShorePoint Health Venice