Kingman Regional Medical Center in Arizona says it has no firm plans for the 70-bed Hualapai Mountain Medical Center that it plans to acquire from MedCath Corp.
"The deal was too good to pass up," explained Jamie Taylor, director of development and public relations for KRMC during a telephone interview. MedCath constructed the Arizona hospital just three years ago for $75 million. Pending MedCath shareholder approval the building, equipment, inventory and 18.6 acres of adjacent land will be sold to KRMC for $31 million.
KRMC at one time considered adding 40 beds to its 235-bed facility but Taylor said the $41 million price tag made the construction prohibitive. "Acquiring Hualapai Mountain is a much better deal for us."
The acquisition means Kingman will revert to a one hospital town. The closest hospitals are 60 miles away in Lake Havasu City and Bullhead City.
Because KRMC has no immediate plans for Hualapai Mountain Medical Center, it will not acquire the facility's business license. MedCath has notified employees that it will close Hualapai Mountain by September 30.
Taylor said once the deal is finalized KRMC officials will meet to develop a strategic plan for the former HMMC. The two facilities are located just three miles apart and so there is no need to duplicate services. Initially Hualapai Mountain probably will become an outpatient facility with additional services added as needed.
It is expected to take two to four months to get licensing and health plan contracts in place to reopen the facility.
Hualapai Mountain Medical Center has struggled to find its market in Kingman. Taylor said it operated on a 15 to 20 patient per day census. The local economy has been troubled and access to the facility has been limited because a planned interstate ramp project was cancelled.
The sale continues the dissolution process that Charlotte-based MedCath began in May 2010. In its heyday, MedCath had ownership interests in 13 hospitals in nine states, 27 cardiac diagnostic and therapeutic facilities in 12 states, and a rental fleet of mobile and modular cardiac cath labs.
With the expected sale of Hualapai Mountain Medical Center only three hospitals remain in the MedCath fold: Bakersfield Heart Hospital in California, Harlingen Medical Center in Texas, and Louisiana Medical Center and Heart Hospital in Lacombe.
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Margaret Dick Tocknell is a reporter/editor with HealthLeaders Media.
