Duke LifePoint Healthcare and the board of directors at Maria Parham Medical Center on Monday signed a joint operating agreement for the 102-bed community hospital in Henderson, NC.
The deal, first announced Jan. 31, is expected to close within the next three months pending regulatory approval.
Duke LifePoint will own 80% of the hospital, while the retained assets and the proceeds from the deal will eliminate MPMC's debt. The remaining assets, approximately $30 million, will be used to create a locally governed charitable foundation that will fund new programs and services in the community. Duke LifePoint also will invest $45 million in capital improvements at the hospital over the next 10 years, the partners said.
David Ruggles, a spokesman for the private, nonprofit Maria Parham, said specific financial terms of the deal would not be made public until it is approved by the North Carolina Attorney General's Office.
"The MPMC board of directors evaluated potential partnerships for a year before selecting Duke LifePoint as our partner of choice," said Bev Tucker, MD, chairman of the MPMC Board of Directors. "Throughout our due diligence process, we have grown even more enthusiastic about this collaboration. Duke LifePoint brings unparalleled clinical and operational support to this community and can give MPMC the resources and expertise it needs to transform healthcare in Henderson and strengthen and grow our hospital."
To retain community control of the hospital, a 10-member board will be equally represented by Duke LifePoint and MPMC appointees. A separate hospital advisory board of physicians, community leaders, MPMC President/CEO Robert Singletary, and a representative from Duke LifePoint also will be established.
The deal marks the second affiliation with North Carolina hospitals for Duke Life Point. In June, the 110-bed Person Memorial Hospital in Roxboro announced a similar affiliation agreement.
Duke LifePoint said the collaboration provides the affiliated community hospitals with LifePoint's operational resources and experience in managing community-based hospitals, and Duke's clinical services and quality leadership.
"We are delighted about the opportunity to welcome Maria Parham Medical Center as the first hospital in the Duke LifePoint system," said William J. Fulkerson, Jr., MD, executive vice president of Duke University Health System. "As part of Duke LifePoint, the hospital will have access to the support it needs to better serve its community and prosper in the future."
Located 50 miles north of Raleigh, MPMC serves north central North Carolina and parts of southern Virginia.
Brentwood, TN-based LifePoint Hospitals operates 52 hospitals in 17 states, and specializes in community hospitals in non-urban markets where the hospital is the sole provider in most of the communities it serves.
Duke University Health System has inpatient and ambulatory locations across North Carolina and surrounding areas, and has partnered with hospitals in its region to establish specialized medical services in their communities.
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John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.