Summa Health in Akron to be acquired by venture capital firm HATCo. Check out our coverage

Summa Health is the largest employer and hospital system in Summit County.
Summa Health is the largest employer and hospital system in Summit County.

Summa Health has announced that it is being acquired by HATCo, a new health care venture capital firm.

The deal, which could be wrapped up by mid-summer, would maintain or grow Summa’s staffing and also cement its headquarters in Akron, neither of which was part of any other proposed Summa mergers or sales, said Dr. Cliff Deveny, Summa’s president and CEO.

Check out our continuing coverage of the topic.

HATCo, a new health care venture capital firm, to acquire Summa Health in Akron -- Jan. 17, 2024

Summa Health is trying something radical to secure its long-term future serving Greater Akron.

Summit County’s largest employer and hospital system has agreed to become a guinea pig of sorts for a new venture capital company aimed at transforming health care through technology.

Summa and Health Assurance Transformation Corporation (HATCo) today announced they have signed a non-binding letter of intent outlining HATCo’s planned acquisition of Summa.

Read the full story here.

Dr. Cliff Deveny, president and CEO of Summa Health (left), listens to Dr. Marc Harrison, CEO and co-founder of Health Assurance Transformation Corporation, as they talk about HATCo's planned acquisition of Akron-based Summa.
Dr. Cliff Deveny, president and CEO of Summa Health (left), listens to Dr. Marc Harrison, CEO and co-founder of Health Assurance Transformation Corporation, as they talk about HATCo's planned acquisition of Akron-based Summa.

Here's what we know about the Summa sale to venture capital firm HATCo -- Jan. 17, 2024

Summa Health has entered into talks to be acquired by a new health care venture capital firm called Health Assurance Transformation Corporation or HATCo for short.

Here's what we know about the deal.

What is HATCo? Here's what we know about the company buying Summa Health -- Jan. 17, 2024

Summa Health has signed an agreement to be acquired by HATCo, a new health care venture capital firm. So, what is the Healthcare Assurance Transformation Corporation?

Here’s what we know.

Worry and hope surround proposed Summa Health sale to HATCo -- Jan. 18, 2024

A capital venture company’s plan to buy Summa Health and turn it into a model of modern health care both worried and thrilled people in Northeast Ohio.

James Hardy, Akron's Ward 8 councilman, said he's "philosophically opposed to private equity owning health resources" because its primary obligation is to investors, not the community. Hardy, who has a master’s degree in public health with a concentration in health policy and management, forecast a “gradual loss of health care access that will inevitably happen in a for-profit scenario.”

Tom Campanella, the health care executive in residence at Baldwin Wallace University, is much more bullish – both about the possibilities at Summa and about Dr. Marc Harrison, who leads Health Assurance Transformation Corp. (HATCo), the health care company that plans to buy Summa.

Read the full story here.

Akron councilman envisions pathway for Summa Health to avoid venture capital acquisition -- Jan. 23, 2024

One of Akron's newest City Council members is uneasy about a venture capital firm's plan to acquire Summa Health.

At the end of of a recent council meeting, Ward 8 Councilman James Hardy publicly called for Summa to pause the sale of the health system to Health Assurance Transformation Corp., a health care company that launched in October and is owned by one of America's largest venture capital firms, General Catalyst.

"The community has not been consulted at all," said Hardy, "and we stand to gain or lose the most at the outcome of this proposal. At the very least, Summa owes greater Akron a transparent process where concerns and questions of the general public are asked and answered."

Read the full story here.

'Enhancing the patient experience': Summa responds to criticisms of proposed sale -- Jan. 25, 2024

Summa Health is defending its decision to pursue a sale and dispelling fears that the deal could result in the hospital system sacrificing quality of care for higher profits.

At Monday's council meeting, Ward 8 Councilman James Hardy publicly called for Summa to pause its sale to Health Assurance Transformation Corp., a new health care company owned by one of America's largest venture capital firms, General Catalyst.

Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein responded to the concerns in an email the Beacon Journal.

He explained that HATCo is structured to deliver continuing investment in technology, innovation and services that generate fresh revenue and push the hospital in a sustainable direction, improving local delivery of care in the process.

Read the full story here.

Tom Harnden, former member of board and Josh Gordon, Executive Director Barberton Community Foundation,talk about the mission of the BCF on Thursday Jan. 18, 2024 in Barberton.
Tom Harnden, former member of board and Josh Gordon, Executive Director Barberton Community Foundation,talk about the mission of the BCF on Thursday Jan. 18, 2024 in Barberton.

Barberton lessons: What a foundation created by proposed Summa sale could do for Akron -- Jan. 25, 2024

Assuming the sale of Summa Health to national venture capital firm HATco goes forward, the new entity is expected to establish a hospital conversion foundation, Summa officials said recently.

It wouldn't be the first in the Akron-Canton area, but it could end up with the largest endowment.

Dr. Cliff Deveny, Summa’s president and CEO, suggested the new foundation would be comparable to the GAR Foundation, which awards more than $7 million annually to greater Akron nonprofits.

When residents approved the sale of Barberton Citizens Hospital in November 1996, proceeds from the sale went into an endowment for the newly created Barberton Community Foundation.

The new entity promptly took on the responsibility of funding a $32 million high school for the community, making the final payment in November 2021.

Read the full story here.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Summa Health, Akron City Hospital in Akron Ohio being bought by HATCo