Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA Healthcare Inc. is buying five Utah hospitals currently owned by Steward Health Care. HCA Healthcare also entered into an agreement to lease the hospitals’ buildings from its owner, Medical Properties Trust Inc. of Vestavia, Alabama.
The Steward-owned hospitals in Utah being acquired by HCA are Davis Hospital and Medical Center in Layton, Jordan Valley Medical Center in West Jordan, Jordan Valley Medical Center-West Valley Campus, Mountain Point Medical Center in Lehi and Salt Lake Regional Medical Center in Salt Lake City. The hospitals will become part of HCA’s Mountain Division, which includes 11 hospitals in Utah, Idaho and Alaska.
According to a statement from Steward, divesting the five Utah facilities will help the company grow in other geographies and frees up capital for the Dallas-based system to invest more in its accountable care model, which is the largest private physician-led model in the U.S. Steward operates hospitals in Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
HCA already owns and operates eight Utah hospitals. Operating under the name MountainStar Healthcare, those hospitals are Brigham City Hospital in Brigham City, Cache Valley Hospital in Logan, Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful, Lone Peak Hospital in Draper, Mountain View Hospital in Payson, Ogden Regional Medical Center in Ogden, St. Mark’s Hospital in Salt Lake City and Timpanogos Regional Hospital in Orem.
“Utah is one of the fastest-growing areas in the country, and the state’s need for healthcare continues to increase,” said Sam Hazen, CEO of HCA Healthcare. “We believe the addition of these facilities will help us improve healthcare network options for patients and enable investment in services to meet increasing demand for healthcare. We look forward to welcoming them to the HCA Healthcare family.”
“We are very proud of Steward’s significant contributions to the quality and efficiency of operations in these facilities,” said Steward chairman and CEO Ralph de la Torre. “We are confident that the combination with HCA Healthcare will enable the achievement of cost savings and further improved quality of care for patients in Utah.”
HCA Healthcare is one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare services,
comprised of 187 hospitals and approximately 2,000 ambulatory care sites, including surgery centers, freestanding ERs, urgent care centers and physician clinics. The company operates in 20 states and the United Kingdom.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.