Transactions & Valuation Issues

Mechanicsville, Va.-based Sheltering Arms Hospital and Richmond-based Virginia Commonwealth University Health System have embarked on a joint venture to combine both institutions' current inpatient rehabilitation programs, according to the Progress Index.

Southampton, N.Y.-based Eastern Suffolk Cardiology is the latest medical organization to join Great Neck, N.Y.-based Northwell Health.

Omaha, Neb.-based Children's Hospital & Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine, also in Omaha, are exploring new partnership options, including the possibility of creating an integrated health network, to create a more seamless healthcare experience for their patients, according to Omaha.com.

Morgantown-based West Virginia University Heart and Vascular Institute and Oakland, Md.-based Garrett Regional Medical Center have joined forces to open a cardiovascular clinic, according to the Preston County News & Journal.

San Francisco-based Blue Shield of California affiliate Care1st Health Plan will divest its Arizona subsidiaries to Tampa, Fla.-based WellCare Health Plans for $157.5 million.

Hartford-based Connecticut Children's Medical Center and Yale-New Haven (Conn.) Hospital are reportedly discussing a pediatric care partnership. If agreed upon and approved, the partnership would create one of the largest children's hospitals in the nation, according to the Hartford Courant.

The following healthcare mergers, acquisitions and general partnerships took place or were announced in the past week.

Massachusetts-based RiverBend Medical Group, which has offices in Agawam, Chicopee, Springfield, Westfield and Wilbraham, Mass., will form a clinically integrated network with Springfield, Mass.-based Mercy Medical Center.

Officials from Middlebury, Vt.-based Porter Medical Center and Burlington-based University of Vermont Health Network unanimously voted to sign a non-binding letter of intent to negotiate a potential partnership. The vote took place Oct. 5.

While the state of Louisiana and the Shreveport, La.-based Biomedical Research Foundation, which operates Louisiana State University affiliated hospitals in Shreveport and Monroe, reached an agreement last week, new details about the deal show that tensions still exist between the…