CT's St. Mary's Hospital to be converted to for-profit facility

A majority interest in St. Mary's Hospital in Waterbury, CT, will be sold to a Texas health care investment group and the hospital will be converted from a nonprofit to a for-profit hospital. The transaction, which followed a long process during which a task force from the hospital considered 16 other potential partners across the country, was announced Tuesday by Chad Wable, the CEO of St. Mary's, and Dan Moen, the CEO of LHP Hospital Group of Plano, Texas, which either operates or is in the process of closing deals on five other hospitals in Texas and New Jersey. Under the terms of the agreement, LHP will invest $135 million so that St. Mary's can pay off the unfunded liabilities in its pension plan, retire hospital debt and invest in new medical technology and improvements in the hospital's specialty practices. An additional $75 million has been committed by LHP for long-term capital improvements.