Transactions & Valuation Issues

Forest Park Hospital in St. Louis, with 450 licensed beds, will lay off most employees and slim down to an ED with only a few overnight beds, according to the Post-Dispatch.

Representatives of Bannock County, the Portneuf Health Care Foundation and LHP Hospital Group signed definitive agreements to form a joint venture that will construct and operate a new regional medical center on the hospital's east campus under the name Portneuf…

Valley Health System, a Local Health Care District in Hemet, Calif., has filed a debt adjustment plan that is supported by most of the district's creditors, according to a story in The Press-Enterprise, in Riverside, Calif.

The Daughters of Charity Health System announced it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire Downey (Calif.) Regional Medical Center, a 199-bed nonprofit hospital in Southeast Los Angeles County, according to a system press release.

Mergers and acquisitions among hospitals were down 13 percent in 2009, and dollar volume of the transactions was down 35 percent, according to a news release from Irving Levin Associates.

The Adams County (Miss.) Board of Supervisors is considering the sale of county-owned Natchez (Miss.) Regional Medical Center, according to a report by the Natchez Democrat.

Hospital Chains, such as Community Health Systems, Health Management Associates and LifePoint Hospitals, are accelerating their efforts to acquire financially struggling independent hospitals in wake of failed healthcare reform efforts, according to a report by BusinessWeek.

St. Vincent Jennings Hospital in North Vernon, Ind., is buying bankrupt Washington County Memorial Hospital's assets for up to $3.5 million, according to a report in The Courier-Journal.

Shriners Hospital in Shreveport, La., and LSU Health Sciences Center-Shreveport are considering merging their operations, according to a report by the Shreveport Times.

Continuum Health Partners, which operates Long Island College Hospital in Cobble Hill, N.Y., has approved an agreement that would allow the hospital to merge with SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Crown Heights, N.Y., according to a report by the Brooklyn…