Transactions & Valuation Issues

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Duke LifePoint Healthcare increased its $138.7 million bid to operate Ocala, Fla.-based Munroe Regional Medical Center to match Shands/Health Management Associates' $200 million bid, according to a report by the Ocala Star Banner.

Yesterday, Elgin, Ill.-based Sherman Health and Oak Brook, Ill.-based Advocate Health Care signed an agreement to merge with an anticipated closing date of June 1, pending regulatory approval.

Officials set a goal to sell Iron County Hospital in Pilot Knob, Mo., by June 30, the end of the hospital's fiscal year, according to a report by the Daily Journal.

Health system financial experts will present a session on evaluating a hospitals' fiscal fortitude at Becker's Hospital Review's Fourth Annual Meeting, which will run May 9 through May 11 at the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago Hotel.

The following hospital mergers, acquisitions and general transaction news took place within the past week, beginning with the most recent.

The Louisiana attorney general's office has said Gov. Bobby Jindal's plans to sell publicly owned LSU hospitals to private operators do not need to be approved by the state legislature, according to a report by WWLTV and The Associated Press.

City officials of North Kansas City, Mo., have hired three additional lobbyists to fight the passage of legislation that would end the city's ownership of North Kansas City Hospital and make the institution independent, effectively blocking some city officials' hopes…

Ontario, Calif.-based hospital chain Prime Healthcare Services offered to invest nearly $44 million into upgrades of St. Mary's Hospital in Passaic, N.J., if regulators approve its acquisition of the hospital, according to a report by The Record.

Rush Oak Park (Ill.) Hospital will shed its status as a Catholic hospital as Chicago-based Rush University Medical Center completes the final step of its 15-year deal to acquire it, according to a report by Crain's Chicago Business.

The board of directors at Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth has decided not to remerge with OhioHealth but to remain an affiliate of the Columbus-based system, according to a Columbus Business First report.