Florida Heart Group sells to Florida Hospital

Adding to the growing trend toward hospitals acquiring physician practices, Florida Hospital announced Monday that its medical group has purchased one of the region's largest cardiology practices. Florida Heart Group's 19 cardiologists and 125 workers became employees of Florida Hospital on Jan. 1. Florida Hospital President Lars Houmann would not disclose how much the non-profit hospital system paid for the practice but said such acquisitions were "essential to our strategy," and added that the region's largest multi-hospital system was looking to acquire more groups.