Piedmont Healthcare merger with Columbus Regional moves closer to reality

The merger of Columbus Regional Health into Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare has moved a step closer to conclusion with a number of actions taken this week.

The agreement between the two health care non-profit entities has been finalized and will be forwarded to the Georgia Attorney General’s Office early next month for approval. Any such deal has to be approved by the attorney general and that process normally takes between 90 and 120 days.

The agreement will be public when it is submitted to the Attorney General Chris Carr for review.

The deal is on track to be complete by March of next year, Columbus Regional Health President and Chief Executive Officer Scott Hill said Thursday morning.

“I am happy where we are right now,” Hill said. “The boards of Columbus Regional Health, Piedmont Healthcare and the Medical Center Hospital Authority are collaborating well together. When the details of this agreement come out, people will see the kind of investment that Piedmont is making in our community.”

Both the Columbus Regional Health board and the Medical Center Hospital Authority have approved the deal with Piedmont.

Medical Center Hospital Authority, the non-profit entity that owns the property used by Midtown Medical Center and Northside Medical Center (formerly Hughston Hospital on Veterans Parkway), voted Wednesday night to extend the leases on the two properties in anticipation of the deal with Piedmont. The Midtown Medical Center property includes the building that was the former Doctors Hospital adjacent to the Medical Center.

The authority’s action will extend the leases to 40 years, Hill said.

“We are pleased to have board approval on the agreement between Piedmont and Columbus Regional,” Kevin Brown, president and CEO of Piedmont Healthcare, said in a prepared statement. “Columbus Regional has a long history of delivering quality healthcare to the west Georgia community, and it’s a privilege to partner with them in these efforts. This is an important step in achieving that goal.”

The Medical Center Hospital Authority also approved what is called a “joinder agreement,” which will give the authority limited oversight responsibility for certain aspects of the relationship between Piedmont and Columbus Regional.

The terms of that oversight have not been released.

The Columbus Regional board voted in May to pursue a partnership with Piedmont. That letter of intent expired at the end of September.

Piedmont Healthcare is a private, not-for-profit organization serving nearly 2 million patients across Georgia. Piedmont consists of eight hospitals, 21 urgent care centers, 28 Piedmont QuickCare locations and 527 Piedmont Clinic physician practice locations, and has more than 1,800 Piedmont Clinic members.

The company has 17,800 employees.

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 10:10 AM with the headline "Piedmont Healthcare merger with Columbus Regional moves closer to reality."