State officials have cleared the way for HCA Healthcare to buy Catholic Medical Center, the latest in a series of hospital mergers and acquisitions reshaping New Hampshire’s medical landscape.
The Manchester hospital says it’s struggling financially, and the sale to HCA – the country’s largest for-profit hospital company – will ensure its survival.
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella announced Monday that his office had approved the deal, which is subject to a number of conditions meant to address concerns that patients could face higher costs or lose access to important services.
“This settlement represents a thoughtful approach that both addresses the insurmountable financial challenges CMC is facing and ensures that the health care needs of New Hampshire residents continue to be met,” Formella said in a news release.
Once HCA takes over, CMC patients with commercial insurance will remain in-network at the hospital. And under a separate agreement with the Diocese of Manchester, the hospital must also continue to adhere to Catholic ethical directives.
Under the terms of the acquisition, the state has barred HCA from cutting labor and delivery, emergency mental health care or other “core” services for at least 10 years – with some exceptions, including if a service incurs a financial loss for 12 months.
HCA agreed to a similar provision in 2020 when acquiring Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester – only to cut labor and delivery services two years later, citing financial and staffing reasons. In an effort to prevent that from happening again at CMC, the attorney general has barred HCA from citing financial losses as a reason to cut labor and delivery services in the first five years.
As part of the CMC deal, HCA has also agreed to add 10 new inpatient psychiatric beds across its hospitals in New Hampshire, which also include Portsmouth Regional Hospital, Parkland Medical Center in Derry and Frisbie.
The company will also pay $2 million over the next three years to help fund existing community health programs that will no longer be led by Catholic Medical Center, including Healthcare for the Homeless and the Poisson Dental Clinic.
The deal also requires HCA to pay the state $7.5 million over 10 years “to support community health programs in the Manchester community” and other initiatives to benefit New Hampshire patients.
HCA will also be prohibited from engaging in certain contracting practices that can stifle competition.
Editor’s note: HCA Healthcare and Catholic Medical Center are NHPR underwriters. They had no influence over this reporting.
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