Landmark Medical Center remains in negotiations to merge with the hospital group Prime Healthcare Services, despite Landmark Hospital Holdco's offer earlier this month to purchase the hospital for $4 million more than Prime has agreed to pay.
Landmark Hospital Holdco proposed a new bid Nov. 1 to Jonathan Savage, the court-appointed special master representing the Woonsocket-based Landmark Medical, according to the Providence Journal.
This is not the first time Landmark Hospital Holdco has offered to purchase Landmark Medical, which has been under the authority of the courts since it neared bankruptcy in 2008. "This offer was submitted by an entity that was deemed unqualified during the 2011 court-supervised bidder process because they failed to submit requisite threshold information to both the Special Master and the Court," wrote Bill Fischer, spokesperson for Landmark Medical, in an email to The Herald.
"We are disappointed by the decisions being made by Mr. Savage," said Spencer Baretz, spokesperson for Landmark Hospital Holdco, in a Nov. 5 press release. He cited Landmark Hospital Holdco's success with previous hospitals, its economical and efficient plans for the hospital's future and commitment to the community as reasons for Savage to consider the group's offer.
"Not only is our offer economically superior to other potential buyers, but more broadly, it is absolutely more favorable for patients, staff and the Rhode Island community," Baretz said in his statement.
Landmark Hospital Holdco has not filed an application with the Rhode Island Department of Health, which oversees hospital mergers, to acquire Landmark Medical, wrote Department of Health spokesperson Dara Chadwick in an email to The Herald.
Choosing between different buyers could affect Landmark Medical's priorities for future investments and long-term goals, said Ira Wilson, professor of health services policy and practice. The terms of a transaction between Prime Healthcare and Landmark Medical as opposed to a different hospital group could impact the care provided to Landmark's patients, many of whom are low-income or elderly, depending on how money is allotted or if Landmark Medical is restructured, he said.
If the deal is finalized, Landmark Medical will become one of the 20 hospitals throughout the United States managed by California-based Prime Healthcare Services. Prime intends to invest $60 million dollars to make Landmark more financially stable and to preserve current services to its patients, Edward Barrera, spokesperson for Prime Healthcare Services, told The Herald in September.
While the approval process between Landmark Medical and Prime Healthcare Services is ongoing, Savage "is more than satisfied with Prime's offer and the pace of discussions," Fischer said. Savage's motion to continue negotiations with Prime Healthcare Services and enter into an asset purchase agreement to set the terms of the sale was granted by the court earlier this month, Fischer said.
Currently, the earliest date for completion would be some time in May, Barrera told The Herald.
