Walker County Hospital District, Quorum Health terminate letter of intent on acquisition of HMH
Huntsville Memorial Hospital may soon be looking for another new buyer. A deal reached last fall between the Walker County Hospital District and Quorum Health was terminated for undisclosed reasons last week.
The following statement was issued Saturday morning by Anne Karr-Woodard, chairman of the Walker County Hospital District Board:
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Walker County Hospital District and Quorum Health have mutually agreed to terminate the October 14, 2016 Letter of Intent in connection with Quorum’s acquisition and operation of Huntsville Memorial Hospital. While our negotiations did not result in an agreement, we appreciate the interest of Quorum Health in HMH and the discussions held over the past several months.
As responsible stewards of our community’s medical needs, the district will continue to evaluate options for ensuring adequate funding to improve the hospital and provide additional services, with the underlying goal of providing quality patient care well into the future. Our focus will now turn to determining ways to make improvements at HMH, including constructing a new ICU unit and exploring other renovations.
Our priorities remain clear: maintaining a best-in-class facility here in Walker County that provides members of the public with the full range of medical services they require — and deserve. We will continue to keep Walker County citizens informed of our activities.
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Karr told The Item on Saturday that she couldn’t speak about what went wrong with the sale of the hospital. Board members and Quorum officials must still abide by a confidentiality agreement signed by both parties last year. The letter of intent, according to Karr, has not been withdrawn yet.
“They let us know this week that they decided not to pursue a transaction with HMH and the hospital district at this time,” Karr said.
“We notified the hospital board on Thursday night during their board meeting. We’re seeking their input to see how they want to proceed. The district also has thoughts and plans about where they want to proceed.”