For immediate release: September 30, 2008 (08-164)

Contacts:
Tim Church, Communications Office 360-236-4077
Allison Cook, Communications Office 360-236-4022

OLYMPIA ¾ The 28-day window to file an appeal of the sale of two Spokane-area hospitals expired last Friday without a challenge, officials at the Department of Health said today. This clears the way for Tennessee-based Community Health Systems to purchase the facilities.

"We’ve heard from people in the Spokane area throughout this process and we understand how important these hospitals are to the community," said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. "Our staff and all parties involved in this complex transaction worked hard to get this decision right and to make it happen in a timely fashion."

Community Health Systems applied to buy Deaconess Medical Center and Valley Hospital and Medical Center. Together both facilities have 511 acute-care beds and treat more than 225,000 patients each year in the Spokane area. Empire Health, a local non-profit, now owns both hospitals.

The state health department reviewed the sale under both the Certificate of Need program and as a conversion to for-profit status. The department reviewed about 8,500 pages of information in the application, as well as an independent valuation of the sale.

In November 2007 Community Health Systems filed its letter of intent to buy the hospitals. It sent applications to the state in January; they were considered complete in May. The attorney general’s opinion was completed August 8, paving the way for this transaction to move ahead.

More information on the review and decision (www.doh.wa.gov/hsqa/fsl/CertNeed/Empire.htm) is available on the Department of Health Web site.

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