LifePoint Health moving forward with buying St. Francis

After months of uncertainty, the likely sale of St. Francis Hospital to a Tennessee corporation will move a step closer today to finality.

The Georgia Attorney General's office will hold a public hearing on the matter at 5 p.m. at the hospital's auditorium. LifePoint Health is moving forward with plans to purchase St. Francis. The hearing is open to the public.

The sale of the nonprofit hospital to a for-profit company has to be approved by the attorney general's office. That process can take 90 days. Attorney General Sam Olens' office will submit a report 30 days after the hearing.

LifePoint officials say they hope to close the deal on Dec. 31. Terms of the purchase have not been released, but Leif Murphy, LifePoint executive vice president and chief financial officer, said last week LifePoint would be paying off about $240 million in St. Francis debt as part of the purchase.

St. Francis' financial issues became public last November when then Chief Executive Officer Robert Granger said the hospital had been operating under a nearly $30 million accounting error. Much of the hospital's executive leadership, including Granger, have since stepped down.

Today's attorney general's hearing will include information on the impact of the sale on employees, hospital quality, safety and access of health care in the community, Murphy said last week.

LifePoint Chairman and CEO Bill Carpenter is scheduled to make a presentation on behalf of the company.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 10:27 PM with the headline "LifePoint Health moving forward with buying St. Francis ."