Henry Medical Center to Affiliate with Piedmont Healthcare

Executives at Henry County Medical Center in Stockbridge, GA announced Wednesday that the 215-bed community hospital will affiliate with Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare.

"I am truly excited about what Piedmont Healthcare will bring to our hospital and to the citizens of Henry County," Jeff Mills, chairman of the Henry Medical Center Board of Directors, said in a joint media release with Piedmont Healthcare. "During our exhaustive selection process, Piedmont demonstrated they were the right partner for Henry Medical Center."

The deal creates a long-term lease from the Hospital Authority of Henry County and a reconstituted Board of Directors of Henry Medical Center, which will become a subsidiary of Piedmont Healthcare. 

"We look forward to sharing our experience with Henry Medical Center and the Henry County community – a strong spirit of collaboration, the highest quality of care, and our solid track record and success in running community hospitals," said R. Timothy Stack, president/CEO of Piedmont Healthcare.

Not-for-profit Piedmont Healthcare now operates four hospitals in Georgia

The affiliation is expected to be in place by January, pending regulatory approval.

Under the deal, Piedmont Healthcare has agreed to:

• Reconstitute the Henry Medical Center Board with majority representation by community members and physicians, although Piedmont executives will also serve on the board;
• Meet all commitments made by HMC to the authority related to the provision of care to the uninsured and the indigent, and to the provision of community benefits;
• Guarantee obligations of existing bond debt of HMC;
• Free Henry County of its obligation to pay HMC $6 million a year for indigent care.
• Work with HMC to establish new clinical services and expand existing services;
• Provide sufficient funds for capital investments;
• Continue HMC's support to community organizations, including local educational institutions.

Piedmont Healthcare is the parent company of flagship Piedmont Hospital, a 481-bed acute tertiary care hospital in Atlanta.  Other hospitals in the system include: Piedmont Fayette Hospital, a 157-bed, acute-care community hospital in Fayetteville; Piedmont Mountainside Hospital, a 42-bed community hospital in Jasper; and Piedmont Newnan Hospital, a 143-bed, acute-care community hospital in Newnan. The health system also operates the Piedmont Heart Institute, and the Piedmont Physicians Group, with more than 140 multispecialty physicians.

Stockbridge is located about 17 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.