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Greenville legislators introduce bill to sell Greenville Health System

Eight members of the 22-person Greenville (S.C.) County Legislative Delegation jointly proposed a bill Feb. 15 calling for the sale of Greenville Health System, according to Greenville News.

Here are five things to know about the situation.

1. The bill, filed in the South Carolina House of Representatives Thursday, calls for the Greenville Health Authority board of trustees' duties to be amended so they are solely tasked with facilitating the sale of the health system and relieving GHS' current leadership while a new president heads the system, according to the report.

2. The bill also calls for a competitive bidding process for the sale of the seven-hospital health system. Legislators expect to receive between $2 billion to $3 billion for GHS, from which bondholders would be paid. The remainder of the proceeds would be distributed between the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, the Greenville County Council and a nonprofit designated to distribute funds throughout the community, according to the report.

3. In an op-ed written by the eight members of the legislative delegation and emailed to the Greenville News, the legislators claim public trust in GHS was shaken when the health system "unilaterally restructured and leased our publicly-owned[,] multibillion dollar asset without the legislative delegation's input or consent as the law requires," the report states. The legislators also said GHS' decision to merge with Columbia, S.C.-based Palmetto Health made matters worse. GHS and Palmetto Health finalized their partnership to create a 13-hospital system last November.

"In the last year, the GHS executives have attempted to justify their actions by claiming that the best way of providing high quality patient healthcare in the future is to look to consolidation and privatization. … To date, the GHS executives have yet to meaningfully work with the delegation on a legal path forward to make this possible. This is unacceptable," the legislators wrote.

"Since GHS will not come to the table, even while GHS claims that patient healthcare is hanging in the balance, the best solution to the problem is to legally allow the system to move forward as a private entity. … We should allow the private market to provide innovative and high-quality care for our community and return the profit from the sale of this multibillion dollar state asset back to the state and Greenville County."

4. However, legislators noted that if the state Supreme Court determines GHS' restructuring is legal, the provisions of the bill will be void, according to the report. The South Carolina Senate will file their version of the bill Feb. 20.

5. In a statement to the Greenville News, a GHS spokesperson said, "Since this bill was just filed we need time to review it and to get a better understanding of its intent and the potential ramifications."

To access the full report, click here.

Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to Greenville Health System for comment and will update the article as more information becomes available.

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